To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter
by marmite and jelly
Summary: So it's true Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts. So has Cat Edwards who thinks she's a muggleborn. Between them the fate of the wizarding world lies in their hands. With Hermione and Ron they will have many adventures. They will find sorrow, love and maybe defeat a dark lord or two. Canon till PoA Rated T for now may change later. Non canon parings. Some OoC. Time for school kids.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**Hi Guys this is my first fanfic. I don't like long A/N's so I'll make this short. Please ****review****, criticize all you want I need it. Hope you enjoy! it's a plot line which ****has been kicking ****around in my head for years and I finally find myself with ****the the ****time to give it a go. Oh and I forgot to mention. I'm not Rowling, Bloomsbury or WarnerBros so if you recognize something which might have a patent/trademark I definitely don't own it so please no suing. **

Prologue:

The rain, which fell almost horizontally in the howling gale, failed in its futile attempt to soak the dark figure striding purposefully along the pavement. Stopping beneath a flickering street lamp on the corner of a typical London close he, for the shrouded figure looked masculine, appeared to the casual observer to be staring intently at the gap between two Victorian red-brick houses. Pulling out a scrap of old yellowy paper from his dark cloak the figure then proceeded to step forward at the brick wall between the two properties, and vanish. The casual observer, had there been one, would have rubbed their eyes, scratched their heads or perhaps rub the wall where the figure had disappeared, before feeling self-conscious have continued on their way resolving to forget the strange occurrence. However at midnight in a howling storm there was no one to either see his passing or guess at his task. Had there been an observer with the eye to see and knowledge to understand what they saw may have been far more concerned by the disappearance of the figure. The manner of his garb and exit from the street would have sent alarm bells ringing in the mind of a law authority that and the confusing jump between number 23 and 24 on the street. A seemingly minor detail which had tripped up new post men in the last few years was never noticed by locals. The presence of a fidelius charm on a street, which to all intents and purposes appeared to be no different from any other in Muggle London, while strange was not unheard of in these dangerous and turbulent times. No rather the hood and mask of the dark figure entering the hidden domain would have marked the man as a member of a dangerous terrorist organisation known as the death eaters. The Magical Government of Great Britain had levelled a substantial bounty upon the capture or death of a member of this organisation and with good reason. The Death Eaters upon orders of their dark lord had terrorized the magical population of Britain for nearly a decade. The first war over blood purity was in full swing and many dark and desperate acts were committed on both sides in a struggle that seemed to have no visible end in sight.

This death eater in question was not, unlike many of his brethren, engaged in anything particularly nefarious this night. Instead as an expert in the art and subtle science of potion making he was called to this residence in the dead of night as a delivery boy. Severus Snape was a pool of conflicting emotions as he shrugged off his bone dry cloak upon passing through the entrance way. Internally he was seething with anger at the menial nature of his task. However the origin of his instructions was fearsome enough that such anger was held in check by very real fear of pain or even death. The simple Impervius charm had kept the rain and wind from affecting his greasy black hair or clothing but the biting wind had still taken its toll on his patience for such a seemingly insignificant reason to rouse himself from his warm bed on such a night. Schooling his emotions and expression Snape knocked twice on the first door he came to and entered when called.

"Ah Severus I must thank you for coming with such haste on such a night as this." The cold high voice emanated from a high wing backed armchair turned towards the fire. It was the only adornment to the room other than a stuffed snake on the mantle.

"My Lord I have brought the required draft." His cool and considered response was completely at odds to the shudder he barely suppressed at the harsh quality of his masters voice. The chill it roused in Snape was not dissimilar to the effect of a sharp object dragged on a blackboard.

"Ah excellent, thank-you Severus, come closer, do not linger in the shadows." Snape walked as steadily as he could round the chair into the fire light. It took all his control and not inconsiderable Occlumency to hide his emotions and innermost thoughts at the sight of the blood-red eyes that appeared to glow from the twisted pale face before him.

"As I expect you have guessed already Severus I did not drag you all the way out here to merely deliver a potion. My reasoning was three-fold in fact. While I do require the potion I have a question and a task I must ask of you. A progress report in acquiring what we discussed last time?" Lord Voldemort smiled with a lipless slit in his pale face in what he no doubt thought was a calming gesture to one of his most promising young death eaters.

"Unfortunately my lord, despite tireless work on my part I have as yet failed to find any information as to the whereabouts of either the potters or their secret keeper." Snape cringed slightly in fear of punishment for his failure.

"I am not unsurprised, what Dumbledore wishes to hide will be no doubt difficult to discover. I can be patient on this matter, he will however not remain a baby forever so he must be found soon Severus. What of your other task hm? Has Dumbledore accepted your offer to spy on me yet?"

"I am meeting with him tomorrow morning where he will attempt to read my mind to test my loyalty."

"Well then I shall read you first. I hope I am not required to erase any incriminating memories beforehand" the dark lord locked eyes with Snape before with a lazy flick of his wand he entered the mind of his servant. Several moments past, with the only noise in the room the crackle of the fire and the shallow breathing of the two wizards. Eventually Voldemort released the connection and Snape swayed from the exertion. "You have done well Severus I could not find evidence of my own knowledge in this plot. The old fool will most likely similarly fail. I have one final task for you tonight and then you may go."

"I am yours to command my lord." Severus inclined his head silently thanking God, Merlin and anyone else listening that he had kept Voldemort from his hidden memories.

"Lucius is upstairs and requires your assistance in the disposal of some rubbish. That will be all thank you Severus."

Snape left the room as quickly as he dared without outright fleeing. He leaned heavily on the door once it was closed and took several long deep breaths allowing the tension that had built from his fear to melt from his muscles. Taking the stairs to the first floor Snape was shocked at the sight that greeted him. A pentacle drawn in dark blood covered most of the floor, candles burning low at the five points revealed the dreadful spectacle in the middle. A young woman lay sprawled like the star on the ground. Her white skin was marred by countless runes and symbols either burned or carved into her skin. Staring out of the sash window deliberately not looking at the scene behind him stood another young man although this one would have been nearer thirty than the twenty year old Snape. Lucius Malfoy's long platinum hair cascaded down his shoulders reflecting the streetlamp outside but appearing to have its own innate luminescence. Upon hearing Snape clear his throat he turned with a grimace towards the scene of the ritual he had prepared hours before.

"Ah Severus you're here at last. I have no desire to linger here longer so I'll make this quick." His voice normally an aristocratic drawl was instead clipped and harried. "She is a Veela, you are a potion master harvest from her what ingredients you want and dispose of the remains, goodnight." Stalking past the younger dark-haired man he patted his old school friend on the shoulder and hurried down stairs.

Turning to the naked woman, more a girl than a woman, Snape felt a little nauseous at the thought of harvesting the corpse for the more lucrative Veela based potion ingredients. Struggling with himself for a moment he instead decided to only take her hair which would be useful at any rate and maybe some blood if it was not to congealed already. Any other ingredients that he may need in the future he would be far happier to buy than take them from the poor dead creature in front of him. Snape was not a coward nor was he particularly squeamish but ever since the night of his marking as a death eater he found the thought of acts such as murder and the desiccation of a corpse repulsive. Not for the first or thousandth time did he lament his decision to join the death eaters.

Stepping forward Snape turned to observe properly the latest victim of his master's cruelty. The Veela appeared to be fully blooded for even marred as she was by the runes, her beauty was too profound and other worldly to have human ancestry. Crouching down to grasp the blood streaked silver of her hair he was shocked by a slight wisp of air on his eyelashes. Stiffening he observed a slight rise and fall to her naked breast. To his utter shock and surprise a pulse confirmed the poor girl was still alive after her ordeal. Removing his cloak and draping it over her prostrate form Snape made the bravest mistake of his life he thought.

Summoning his power he cast a field of invisibility around the girl and began to levitate her down the stairs. Slowly and painstakingly he edged his way past the door which led to his master and left the house as quickly and as quietly as possible. Upon leaving the field of the Fidelius and appearing once more into the muggle world. In the harsh light of the still flickering streetlamp the invisibility charm began to fade. Quickly wrapping the hovering bundle of girl and cloak in his arms he turned and disappeared with a sharp crack. If you asked Snape why he did it upon his death he would probably give a sarcastic answer saying he shouldn't have but in all honesty saving her from the fate his master had planned for her was one of the proudest moments of his short and ignominious life. It saddened Snape that this was the only moment in which he ever risked something he didn't need to for the sake of another with no thought to reciprocation or gain. The thought that perhaps he'd grown a conscience was an unsettling one as he apparated outside the ornate iron gates. Whipping out his wand he sent a large silver conjuration running across the lawns behind the gates up to the dark shape on the hill side. A few moments later the gates opened with a shrill creak. Another flick of his wand summoned a broomstick to his side. Carefully arranged with the barely alive female clutched to his chest he flew low and fast above the path leading to the castle.

* * *

Despite the late hour light shone like golden lanterns in the walls of Hogwarts reflecting out over the lake. Albus Dumbledore unlike most of the occupants of Hogwarts was not yet asleep. Instead the aged wizard resplendent in blue star embroidered robes was poring over a reports of muggle deaths. This morbid task served two purposes to his mind. It helped remind him the cost of failure and what they were fighting against. Secondly he hoped with increasing desperation that by observing the attacks a pattern could be established or a clue to Voldemort's whereabouts could be discerned from the seemingly random violence that the war had degenerated into. Nearly a year had passed since last Dumbledore had met Voldemort in a duel. He had bested Voldemort that day and nearly every day since Dumbledore wished he had not. Since his public defeat all though by no means was it an easy victory for his opponent, Voldemort had changed to fighting a war from the shadow's attacking muggles in particular forcing the aurors to waste resources on obliviating the victims instead of hunting death eaters and guarding targets. His musings on the seeming hopelessness of the situation was interrupted by the appearance of a silver doe which came bounding through the wood of the door. The voice of Severus Snape begged for entrance to the wards of Hogwarts and explained that he had a severely wounded girl who needed urgent medical attention. Dumbledore examined a device on a side table which told him that there were indeed two people at the gates. Dumbledore did as requested but with a great deal of suspicion. After what Severus had done to the Potters it was not surprising that he was cautious to trust his new ally. Upon apparating to the front doors of the castle to arrive in time to intercept Snape, Dumbledore was treated to the worrying sight of Snape clutching a figure wrapped in a black cloak. With a flick of his wand Dumbledore scanned her vitals and ushered Snape towards the hospital wing. Dumbledore rapped on the door to the nurse's office while Snape lay the girl on an available bed and conjured a privacy screen around it. Madame Pomfrey was a light sleeper after nearly ten years as Hogwarts' in house medical expert and thought she was prepared for anything that the magical world could throw at her but what she saw when Dumbledore had ushered her to the patient turned even her experienced stomach. A girl naked but for literally hundreds of runes carved and branded into every inch of her body. Clearly the poor teenager had been used for some dark ritual. Madame Pomfrey set to work while Dumbledore turned to Snape.

"Who is she Severus?"

"I do not know further than she is a full-blooded Veela" Snape replied his voice grave and his face grey in the low light.

"You told me the dark lord was studying rituals, do you know what purpose she has served him?"

"By the runes I observed I would assume an attempt to strengthen his magical core. After his defeat to you and now the prophecy he is determined make himself more powerful."

"Professor Dumbledore," Pomfrey interrupted. "The girl is in a seriously bad way. She will not last the night." Dumbledore could plainly see the seriousness of her statement in the mournful look on her face. "Perhaps more could be done if I understood what exactly I'm attempting to heal here?" Hands on hips and eyebrow raised, the school nurse questioned the two men across the room. "The lacerations and burns while painful should not be sufficient to cause the rapid deterioration in her condition!"

"Have you tested her magical reserves Poppy?"

"No headmaster… one moment." Turning to her patient she murmured incantations with precise wand movements. "Merlin's beard, there's nothing left in her. Her core has been drained, all that's left to measure is the trace of dark magic and what I must assume was her own innate magic."

"It is as I feared. Severus, I know of two rituals which fit these circumstances, however they would leave the victim of the sacrifice in very different states upon their completion. Either the Dark Lord had not completed the ritual or as I suspect is more likely this young lady has suffered far worse than her appearance suggests."

"I think headmaster if the Dark Lord was not finished with her she would not be here now. "Snape's normally pallid features appeared even greyer in the pre-dawn light. "Headmaster is there more to this than I am seeing?"

"I fear it will be a few weeks at least before I can know for certain what has occurred tonight. Until then she must be kept alive at all costs Poppy." With that somewhat enigmatic statement Albus consumed by worry and no small feelings of guilt swept from the hospital wing leaving a grim nurse and a bewildered and exhausted death eater trailing in his wake.

"Severus…what I must know with some immediacy is who called you tonight was it the dark lord himself?"

"It was Albus, and yes he read my mind in preparation for the planned meeting with you."

"so you were successful? He does not suspect that you have left his service?"

"He has no idea that I have betrayed him, nor that we have ever exchanged a glance so much as words or schemes."

"I am proud of you Severus, it takes true courage to stay at his side but be on mine. All though perhaps if you had found that courage a little earlier in life such gestures would not be necessary."

Gritting his teeth at the admonishment from the ancient wizard walking beside him Severus allowed his thoughts to stray to the reason for his desertion from the dark lord's cause.

"Is she safe?" His question was barely more than a whisper. Glancing at the dark robed young man to his right Dumbledore sighed and placed a hand on his shoulders.

"Yes Severus she, her husband and her son are under the fidelius charm. Even I do not know their location. Voldemort will not find them."

"You give me your word on that Dumbledore?"

"Yes Severus Snape you have my word. Unless their secret keeper betrays them, they will be safe."

* * *

Lucius Malfoy could not believe his luck. He had merely stepped into the Harpies Nest, one of the seediest pubs in Knockturn Alley or anywhere for that matter, and he had literally walked slap bang into one of the very men he most hoped to meet. The short young man with watery eyes and thinning hair squealed at the sight of the man who had just blocked his exit. Turning desperately in an attempt to find a new means of exit he felt two the hard tip of a wand at the base of his skull as the cold voice of the Malfoy heir chilled his bones.

"Well if it isn't Potter's little rat." Malfoy sneered. "Happy Halloween to you, Peter wasn't it? Actually your name doesn't matter, what matters is what you can tell me, and my master."

"Lucius," Pettigrew whispered and attempted to force a smile through the terror that currently grasped his features. "It's been a long time, who can believe it's over two years since we graduated."

"Ah yes our wonderful school days, those golden years walking the hallowed halls hexing any innocent Slytherin I pleased because I had big friends to protect me from my victim's revenge, oh wait hang on a moment, that wasn't me. That was you Rat! You spent seven years hiding behind Potter, Black and the Wolf. Where are they now Peter, oh what's that they aren't here to protect you this time? I always thought Gryffindor was the home of the 'bold of heart' and yet you Peter are an abject coward to the core. Come Peter my master and I have some questions about those same big friends you used to hide behind." All of this was delivered in the high aristocratic drawl which Pettigrew remembered Potter mocking in school. It didn't seem so funny right now as the cold sweat pooled on Peter's brow.

"Now Lucius let us be sensible we our both reasonable men aren't we? There's no need to do anything rash!" Pettigrew was terrified and was glancing around the pub desperately hoping someone would come to his aid as the marauders had always done at Hogwarts. But all who had observed the scene turned back to their drinks.

"Rash? Oh I wouldn't do anything rash you snivelling rat. I am simply going to introduce you to some friends and acquaintances of mine who are just killing to know some information that I suspect you possess." With that the blonde death eater seized the cowering diminutive figure before him and dragged him kicking and howling through the door and had disapparated with his prize before anyone could do anything to help the poor young man. The barkeep in the Harpies Nest was disappointed that he would not be seeing Pettigrew again, on account of his habit of spending too much on drink, however when he thought about it for a second it was an easy decision to ignore the altercation and return to polishing the smeared glass he had been polishing on and off for the last three weeks.

* * *

A sharp knock on the door to Madame Pomfrey's office roused her from inventory of her flu potion stock. The unseasonably cold weather at Hogwarts this November had led to several proclaimed cases of flu although the mid-year exams may have had as much to do with it as the chilly north wind in the Scottish highlands. As it was upon opening the door to her office instead of seeing, as she had expected, a student with a suspiciously fake sounding cough; she was instead confronted by the appearance of the headmaster and the unknown dark-haired man who had brought in her long-term patient.

"Ah Poppy I was hoping now would be a good time for me to see our guest again." Despite the apparent levity in Dumbledore's words there was no evidence of the normal twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Of course headmaster" replied the nurse leading the two wizards into a private room off the main hospital wing. "As you can see she is still alive but alas not responding to treatment or stimulus it is all I could do to place her on magical life support charms and potions as you asked of me. Dumbledore as much as it pains me to, I must ask, why we must continue this poor girls suffering? She will not recover from this."

"My dear Poppy continuing her suffering is the very last thing I wish, however we will know in the next few minutes whether we must sustain her tenuous grasp upon this life or allow her to continue on to the next great adventure."

"Headmaster what do you expect to learn from her if she will not wake?" Asked Snape from the corner of the small room, where he leant on the wall with a sullen expression.

"We shall see what we shall see…" He muttered almost inaudibly. Waving his want the old wizard spoke an incantation "Graviditate revelio".

"A pregnancy test headmaster! Merlin's beard you don't think?" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed as she turned to see the result of the headmasters charm. For nearly five seconds all three occupants of the room watched with bated breath as the white glow which had settled around the girl from the end of Dumbledore's wand converged over her abdomen. The seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness as they waited. Snape was dreading to think what it could mean if it was positive, yet if it was not then the girl would be dead within the hour and for a man who had joined the death eaters the thought appalled him.

Dumbledore let out a sigh as after the required ten seconds the glow had not changed and was about to turn to Severus when a gasp from the school nurse drew his eyes back to girl on the bed and saw with a heavy heart that the spell had changed colour. Pulsating, a soft blue the glow settled over her abdomen before fading away and with it all noise in the room,

"What happens now Dumbledore?" Snape finally spoke after what seemed an age.

"I do not rightly know Severus. Poppy, hypothetically would it even be possible to keep the girl alive full term?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

With a worried frown and an agitated tap of her foot Poppy thought about the implications of the question. "A simple stasis spell would certainly be sufficient to keep her alive for another 32 weeks but I have no idea whether the foetus would even develop when the mother is stalled. More dangerous for the mother but safer for the child, would perhaps be the draught of living death. It has been used before for the purpose of keeping a mother alive to deliver her baby, so at least we know it would work. But that kind of exposure to the potion for that long would make her very unstable and she would need constant supervision. I am not sure if we can accomplish this here headmaster." She finished her assessment with hands wrung together and a drop of her shoulders in defeat.

Dumbledore turned to regard the girl on the bed before waving his wand in a complicated pattern. When he was finished with a satisfied nod, the girl on the bed was no longer the abused and tortured veela that Snape had brought in six weeks ago. Instead a normal young brunette lay on the bed with no sign of the scars from the runes which had covered every square inch of her body.

"That should be sufficient to keep her safe from notice by those we would not want to know of her survival." Sucking in a breath he turned to the nurse. "Madame Pomfrey I must ask you to leave us here at Hogwarts." Holding up a hand to forestall her question, he continued. "As a member of the order you have my utmost faith and trust. Your assistant nurse Wainscott will have to manage the hospital wing for the remainder of the year. I am sorry Poppy but there is no one else I can trust with ensuring the safety of the two lives on this bed. As you said we cannot care for her here so we will need to transfer her to St Mungo's but I need you to be her attending healer for the sake of her life and secret. Staring deep into the eyes of the distressed staff member in front of him the ancient wizard attempted to convey the importance of the mission he assigned her. "Please do this Poppy, I am not yet sure but this could be vital for the survival of our world. What we do now could change the course of the war."

Turning to leave the room with Snape at his heel Dumbledore answered the question that was no doubt plaguing the mind of his young spy. "Severus we can keep her safe long enough to have the child."

"That's not what worries me Albus, I would not speak in front of Madame Pomfrey but I have information of a most distressing development relating to the deal we made when I changed sides."

"What has happened Severus surely he has not found them?"

"The exact details of what has transpired are being kept to the inner circle only but what I was able to discover was this. A marauder has taken the mark."

* * *

What Lucius Malfoy had said to him in the entrance to the pub in Knockturn Alley was unfortunately true. Peter Pettigrew or Wormtail as his friends called him was a coward. Those friends who gave him the nickname, the only friends he ever had were proved to mean less to him than even the fear of pain. Voldemort had merely raised his wand, the Cruciatus curse on his lips unspoken when Wormtail had spilled his greatest secrets. Order operations, names, numbers and plans all came spilling from the rodent's mouth unaided by curse or serum. While delighted to have such a well placed spy, the dark lord quickly found himself frustrated as the two locations he cared about most for in the world were unknown to Pettigrew. The Cruciatus curse nor veritaserum proved any more effective in gleaning the location of the either the Order of the Phoenix or the Potter's hiding place. Still faced with the fear of his own demise Pettigrew proved more than willing to take the dark mark and swear allegiance to the dark lord on the promise of the continued survival of his miserable hide.

Weeks turned into months and there was no word of either the Potters or the Order's locations. Voldemort considered himself a patient man, however even his infinite patience was tested. In poor Pettigrew's defence the bounds of the fidelius charm only allowed him access to the two locations he was unable to divulge their locations. The order would have to wait but Voldemort had hatched a plan that was elegant in its simplicity. Very soon he would be able to fulfil the prophecy that spoke of the one with the power to defeat him. Soon very soon.

**Duh Duh ****Duhhhh****. R&R Plz. No seriously someone review and tell me if I should give up or if you are enjoying it. The suspense is killing me.**


	2. Chapter 2 Parents

**Ok so Chapter 2's a bit shorter. Set pretty much 40 weeks after the events of chapter 1. On with the show. Review please I need to know what you think so I can improve.**

Chapter 2

Yet another electric strip light was on the blink in the social care department of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Frankly they were driving Audrey Edwards mad. After a full hour of waiting reading the adoption leaflets she couldn't bear another minute of reading the procedural information and legal mumbo jumbo. Turning to her husband Jack she was completely unsurprised to see that the PE teacher was fast asleep in the waiting room chair next to her. She smiled despite her irritation before sharply digging her elbow into her husband's side. Exhaling sharply and staring wildly about his eyes fell upon his grinning wife and was about to berate her for attacking him when he noticed the way her smile did not reach her eyes.

"What is it honey. And by the way ow!"

"Sorry Jack but well you were snoring very loudly, it was disturbing some of the social workers."

Ignoring her teasing Jack could tell that she was genuinely upset about something. "Well I'm not snoring anymore so want to tell me why you really woke me?"

"Jack…"

"Audrey?"

"What next." Tears were springing to her eyes and her voice was tinged with a hysterical wobble. "I'm so tired of this Jack." Turning to face her husband's grave face she continued into the speech that had been running through her head for the last two years. "We've had four chances and they've all gone wrong. We've been doing this for three years and no one has chosen us Jack. Why? Seriously why can't we have a baby?"

"Audrey you know none of those were our fault love. It'll happen we just have to be patient. You will be a mum Audrey."

"I can't do this anymore if this one falls through I want to stop. Let's just go back to the way things were when it was just you and me in love with each other Jack! I've always wanted to be a parent but I can't stand this worry and heart ache every time I think we're finally going to have a child only to have it taken away."

Cradling his wife to his chest Jack slowly rocked her and whispered in his best attempt to soothe the now openly weeping woman. "Alright love shush it's ok we'll work it out."

Hiccupping and rubbing the tears from her face Audrey saw the door to the social workers office open and a woman who was clearly approaching retirement with steel grey hair in a bun and a severe expression walk out of the office and head straight towards them.

"Mr and Mrs Edwards I presume?" She spoke with a strong Scottish accent but there was a softness to her voice as she surveyed the emotional couple before her. "If you'd care to come with me and we can have a conversation about your situation."

After being led into the office and taking a seat around the desk, the social worker offered them tea, sat back in her leather chair and surveyed the couple before her. Glancing through the file again she turned her eye upon each in turn. Audrey felt incredibly intimidated by the piercing gaze and was gripped by the odd feeling that her soul was being taken out examined and measured by the older woman in front of her. After painfully long silence finally the woman spoke. "My name is Ms McGonagall and I have asked you here to discuss your application to adopt a child. I see that you have been at the front of the queue for nearly three years and have had four previous possibilities fall through." Looking up from the file again she continued. "The paperwork I have in front of me suggests that none of those situations were as a result of any perceived unsuitability on your part which leaves me in the happy position to offer you a…" She glanced again at the paperwork. "fifth chance to be parents." McGonagall smiled softly at the surprised looks on the faces of the couple in front of her.

"What? Really?" Audrey spoke first, the surprise evident in her disbelieving expression. Frankly she had given up hope that anyone would choose them to adopt their child.

"Well yes Mrs Edwards." She handed over a piece of paper with the child's information. "This case is somewhat unusual it must be said as unlike the previous four 'Baby Girl twenty-fifth of the seventh, eighty' has already been born. She was delivered by caesarean section and taken into care immediately has her young mother was pronounced dead shortly after going into labour." She paused following the gasp from the younger woman, "She was experiencing breathing difficulties at first and has been kept under observation for the five days. Her pediatrician has advised that she be kept for a further week at least, which if you did offer her foster care on a trial period would give you ample time to prepare."

Audrey suddenly worried that this chance would be taken from her too jumped in immediately that's not necessary! We have been prepared for three years. As of last month I am out of work as I was preparing to transfer to a new school closer to home but that means that I wouldn't have to sort out maternity leave." Jack winced at that thinking of the problems of trying to support a family with only him working. Still if it meant he'd finally be a father he could afford to tighten his belt. Maybe he'd take that assistant boarding house master post at school but it would mean more time away from home…"

McGonagall exercising a little casual occlumency was pleased with what she had seen from their surface thoughts. Audrey Edwards desperately wanted a child; she had a deep lingering guilt that she could not conceive. She acknowledged that this was irrational and did believe Jack when he argued he didn't blame her or love her less she was still desperate to become a mother and have a family. Yes Audrey would make a fine mother. There would be no lack of love or care from that department. The perspective father Jack it turned out was just as good a prospect. He appeared completely selfless with regard to the well-being and desires of his wife and their prospective child. McGonagall still had her concerns however. The two teachers both in their late thirties would make fine parents for any normal child. But the little girl whose fate they were deciding today was not a normal child. _She is going to be exceptionally magically powerful. She already has a detectable magical core! I've only heard of one other infant under three years old in my life. Furthermore she's a half-blooded Veela for Merlin's sake! It's a good thing this woman's hair is blonde but still, this little girl is going to very quickly realise she isn't a normal muggle and how are muggle's supposed to cope with an infant who can levitate her toys or set fire to her dummy. _Unnoticed to the couple in front of her Minerva glanced towards where Dumbledore was disillusioned to her left with a frown. He would signal her if he thought they were an inappropriate family and she had received no word to the contrary so she decided to trust his judgement. And maybe inform her friend in the DMLE to keep an eye on the situation in case obliviators were called for.

"Well that's excellent news first I'll take you to see her and then we can get the paperwork all sorted out." McGonagall stood and beckoned the Edwards's to follow her from the office.

* * *

"Good morning Mr Black."

"Morning Karen, I'm not late am I?"

"No Sir the Wizengamot is not in session for another three minutes." The receptionist smiled at the young head of house black as he strode beside her. Dressed in smart black velvet robes which matched his flowing hair and goatee he looked particularly dashing she thought this morning and self-consciously smoothed her skirt as she walked with him in her high heels leading him to the council chambers.

"You alright their Karen?" Sirius asked with a smirk, noticing the glances that the pretty assistant had given him. She was a good five or so years older than the young wizard but Sirius was never one to hold that against someone. It would be rude to ignore the advances of a pretty girl because she was a little older.

"Fine thankyou Sir, I'll see you outside afterwards maybe?"

"Perhaps you will." He nodded as he turned into the corridor leading to the council chamber. He stopped short abruptly finding his way blocked by several familiar faces. "Oh I do declare if isn't half the Slytherin Quidditch team. You guys cannot be serious. Oh wait that's me… No but seriously Lucius, Avery, Macnair, Crabbe, Goyle and Lestrange wasn't it? You guys cannot still be mad about losing the cup to us five years in a row I mean that was over two years ago now guys you need to move on deal with your mediocrity."

The men in the hallway looked at each other with slightly amused expressions. "I must say I am very glad that we will be able to kill you soon Black. Not only are you a blood traitor and a disgrace to the name of wizard, but frankly you're an arrogant bastard who deserves to be taken down a few pegs." Lucius sneered. "All though it seems being a disgrace to wizard kind runs in the family. First Sirius then dear cousin Andromeda and now would you believe it poor little Reggie."

"What nonsense are you spouting now Malfoy I do not have time for games today, I will however be happy to hex you into oblivion in a more public setting later on when everyone can see you for the joke you and your bum chums are."

"Ah Sirius you were always one to let your mouth write cheque's your wand can't cash. But do not worry you'll be with your dear traitor brother soon. Or you would be if we'd found anything left of him." Lucius' Cheshire cat impression was impressive.

"How fitting that before you die we will have the pleasure of witnessing you betray your friends only to die in vain anyhow." Rodolphus Lestrange smirked at the shocked light wizard in front of them.

"And with that we will take our leave of you Mr Black, good day be seeing you soon, very soon." Lucius swaggered down the hall away from Sirius who was struck dumb with a sudden cold dread.

As the last death eaters turned to leave Sirius swayed and wanted to use every profanity under the sun in several languages. However he settled for a loud "FUCK!" which was followed by a confused looking security guard poking his head out of his booth round the corner.

Sirius forgetting all about the Wizengamot session turned and raced from the ministry, his thoughts a whirlwind focused on one crucial point. _We need to recast the fidelius, they know I'm the secret keeper. For god's sake it was obvious, who's stupid idea was it to make me the secret keeper, oh right I did. That's why Remus and Prongs were the brains of the marauders. Remus would be better than me he's less obvious, but he's a werewolf so the dark lord will already be on the lookout for him to recruit. Who is loyal and we can trust with the lives of Lily, Harry and James but is not so obvious that the death eaters will immediately start chasing him. _It was the day before Halloween and Sirius had been invited to dinner at the Potters but he resolved to go over tonight anyway and to take Peter with him they had to solve this before he could be captured by death eaters and forced to reveal their location.

* * *

McGonagall and the maternity matron led the Edwards's down the ward to a room with rows of incubators. Glancing at the charts as they passed the Matron directed them to one in the corner with in Audrey's opinion the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Curled on her side still slightly wrinkled and puffy was a tiny baby. Curled on its side with a few wisps of golden hair it was sucking a finger and wriggling slightly in the hospital blue romper suit.

Overcome by emotion and fighting back a sob, Audrey grasped Jack's arm tightly conveying her desperate longing to be the small child's mother. Turning to the nurse Jack asked her something quiet enough that his wife wouldn't hear, knowing she might be disappointed if she wasn't allowed to. "Would it be alright to take her out and hold her for a while? I understand she is apparently breathing normally now."

"Yes that should be fine." Turning to open the incubator, she showed the painstakingly careful man how to pick up the sleeping baby and support the head. After staring for a few seconds into the scrunched up tiny face he turned and agonizingly carefully gave her to his openly crying wife.

Audrey in that moment before her husband handed her the precious bundle was gripped by terror. She had waited for this for so long. Longed for it for so much of her recent life that she was not sure what would be left when the girl was cradled in her arms. Waiting for a child had become her purpose for living she realised in that moment, how could she possibly accept that her deepest desire was going to become a reality. And then she was there. She was heavier than she was expecting and warm and soft and alive! It just clicked like gravity had shifted. The earth ceased to orbit the sun with Audrey standing on it. Everything in her universe was tethered to the tiny creature cradled in her arms. Staring intently at the face before her she almost screamed in excitement as the tiny girl yawned and began to open her eyes. Audrey stopped stock still and stared in wonder at the beautiful creature in her arms. Her eyes were great dark pools surrounded by a dark blue iris almost violet in appearance. They were breathtakingly beautiful and Audrey found her own eyes welling up with tears all over again. She had known that if they ever did manage to have a child she would love it, but she was not prepared for the fierce depth of feeling she felt when the girl looked at her. She loved her husband dearly, he was her best friend, her truest companion and confidant. But now she found something possibly more important than her love for him. She loved the girl in her arms more than anything ever, she knew in that instant when she opened her eyes that she would kill for her or die for her. Her happiness and safety were her new purpose in life. Gently Audrey rocked and cooed to the infant. "Hello baby, My name is Audrey, I'm going to be your mummy." Her heart soared at the little gurgle the infant made in response it was the single most beautiful sound in all of creation. Jack did not regularly give in to his emotions. Sure he got a bit teary eyed at the end of The Deer Hunter but who doesn't? The sight of his wife holding the baby their eyes locked on each other was too perfect he couldn't hold back the tears that were threatening to break through.

All too soon it was time for the baby to be placed back and Audrey sobbed as Jack slowly led her away from her reason for existence. The taxi ride home from the hospital where they had said goodbye to McGonagall, was a surreal experience for the Edwards's. Audrey had curled up in Jack's lap instead of taking the seat next to him. She was feeling incredibly drained and needed the physical comfort. Jack's mind was in an entirely different place, more specifically the post natal care ward. "What are we going to call her Jack?" His wife's soft whisper finally penetrated his clouded thoughts.

"Huh what?"

"What are we going to call her. I know we agreed if we got a girl we'd call her Melissa, but that just seems wrong now."

"Yeah she's not a Millie" His wife slapped his arm at that remark.

"Promise me you wouldn't have called her that if we had."

"Of course I wouldn't have darling" He wisely denied it. Audrey looked at him sceptically before rolling her eyes and gazing out of the window. As the taxi took them past the Royal Albert Hall the history teacher considered various royal names discounting each as they flitted across her mind until one stuck in her head and would not go.

"Catherine" she whispered so quietly that only the man inches from her face heard her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I think her name is Catherine." She turned to look into her husband's eyes with a smile. "Catherine Sophia Edwards".

"Sophia. After my mum?"

"I just thought It's a good way to remember her." Audrey suddenly anxious, worried she had misjudged the moment.

"It's perfect."

Six days later Audrey and Jack Edwards welcomed Catherine Sophia Edwards into their lives.


	3. Chapter 3 Betrayed

**A/N Hi guys here's chapter 3. I'm having fun writing this but so far I have no idea whether any of you guys are enjoying reading it. Please review I could use the criticism/advise/support whichever you feel this warrants. Enjoy.**

Chapter 3

It was already near dark when 6 o'clock rolled round in rural Dorset. Nestled in a green valley with a small river at the base of the slopes, the picturesque village of Godric's hollow was winding down for the night. The twilight crept like a purple wave down the slopes of the eastern hills and bathed the white houses of the village in blues and muffled all sounds. The silence was broken by the laughing and joking of the three young men who appeared as if from nowhere in the church graveyard. The tallest man, with receding light hair looked around appreciatively at the pretty tudor cottages with white walls and dark woodwork. His companions, a tall man with long black hair and a goatee was dressed in a biker jacket. The third, a small man with sandy hair and a long nose was quieter and timid next to his taller companions. The dark haired man in the middle pulled an elaborate gold pocket watch out and glanced at it with a raised eyebrow, as the three hopped the low stone wall around the church yard and strode across the green.  
"For gods sake Remus you can admire the pretty village later, we're going to be late!" Sirius whined to his friend.  
"I'm not slowing us down, anyway we wouldn't be late if wormtail hadn't been so late."  
"Guys I've already apologised I got off work late."  
"ah yes your job that you won't tell us anything about." Sirius smirked giving Pettigrew a small shove. "what're you so embarrassed about oh my god you're not a gigolo are you?"  
The mortified Peter argued back "I'm not a gigolo!"  
"You sure about that Peter?" Sirius grinned. "I don't know what you're so ashamed of. You know it's the oldest profession in the world."  
"I am not a male gigolo!" this last was delivered as the three friends turned down a small lane between the hedges on the outskirts of the village.

"You know what I think that should be the new password." A jaunty laugh came from a disembodied head followed by a fourth young man removing an invisibility cloak. James Potter complete with glasses and messy black hair grabbed Sirius and pulled him into a hug. "It's so good to see you mate."

"Whoah there mate I only saw you last week . Lils not driving you crazy is she?!"

"Don't even think about answering that James Potter!" Came a disembodied feminine voice from a few feet to the left. Chuckling the friends crossed over the wardline and another cottage appeared surrounded by a pretty garden. Standing by the gate, four month old baby on hip the willowy figure of Lily Potter née Evans was scowling at her husband.

"Cub!" Yelled Sirius completely ignoring his mother and ran to the gurgling black haired baby giggled as Sirius took him and bounced him gently. "Oh hi Lils…" He gave the redhead a wink as the baby began sucking on a finger that got to close to his fist. "Crikey the little tyke has got a grip, a future Gryffindor beater if I'm not mistaken, just like his uncle Sirius."

"Beater? Don't be silly snuffles he'll be Hogwarts' star chaser like his da." James argued back taking his son as Sirius, Remus and Peter all kissed Lily on the cheek as she lead them into the house.

"Or he won't be able to play Quidditch to save his life, like his mum." Lily threw her two pence into the argument.

"Well we all know that's not true, let's not forget the time in first year that you the muggleborn who had only read a book on how to fly beat James to the snitch!" Remus smiled as James scowled. "For the life of me I don't know why you didn't go out for the team you were the fastest in our year."

"Only because I hadn't read the chapter on stopping! And anyway why on earth would I want to sign up for a team which would mean spending four hours a week with the two biggest prats in the school?"

"Hey!"

"Shush darling you matured." She teased her husband. Turning an eye on Sirius and winking. "You however are still a prat." Sirius however was looking pensively at baby Harry in her arms and appeared to have missed the insults. Typical boy thinking about Quidditch when a girl was talking to him.

"You know what this gives me an idea." Sirius stroked his goatee in what he assumed made him look wise and knowledgeable. This was spoiled by James, Remus and Lily rolling their eyes at each other.

"Do we even want to know what hair brained scheme you've thought up this time."

"Hey this is legitimately a good idea, but I shant say it'll be a surprise." He feigned a hurt expression at their lack of faith in him.

"Suit yourself." Lily replied turning to put Harry down to sleep in the cot. "Don't you dare ask him James!" She called without turning around knowing that the next ten minutes of James and Peter pestering Sirius while he refused to answer.

"I see what you mean James when you say she spoils all your fun."

"I didn't say that! Remus tell her I didn't say that." James cowered before the gaze of his better half, failing to spot the amused twinkle in her eye or the slight smile hiding at the edge of her lips. Lily raised an eyebrow menacingly and turned to Sirius.

"What exactly did my dear husband say Sirius?"

Briefly considering loyalty to his best friend and fellow marauder, Sirius immediately plumped for trying to get him sleeping on the couch for a week.

The good natured banter back and forth lasted all the way through supper and well after. Remus had to duck out at nine after supper as he had a job to do for the order early the next day. It was getting on for eleven when Sirius finally brought up what had been troubling him for two days. Just like that the happy bubble of innocent friendship was broken as all at the table remembered why the house was invisible even to friends. Why Lily had not seen her sister in a year. Why James had been forced to wait for Dumbledore's report to the order to find out about the murder of his parents. Lily understood now why Peter had seemed quiet and pensive throughout dinner. Sirius had discovered that the dark lord was now seeking the potters and had guessed who the secret keeper was.

"Don't get me wrong guys, I'm not a coward and well without seeming to sappy I would happily die for you and Harry. I love you guys. James you were my first real family. I cannot bare the idea of a world without the three Potters. But I cannot be your secret keeper. Voldemort knows it's me. I'm a good dueller, but I can't beat Riddle." Sirius paused in his speech and focused on Lily. "Lily I know that I was not your first choice you would rather it had been Alice or Marlene before they died."

"Sirius I trust you with my life. Clearly, as I chose you." She interrupted attempting to ignore the pain at the loss of her two friends.

"Thanks Lil, but this will all be in vain if Voldemort gets hold of me. The strength of this charm is in him not knowing who can tell him where you are. I am too obvious, they knew it was me immediately. You don't trust Dumbledore which with the way this war is going makes sense. Remus is in danger already as a were-wolf so that leaves only one Marauder left." Turning to Peter to seek reassurance from his quiet friend Sirius continued. "Peter has agreed to swap with me if you're willing Lily. That way if I die, which frankly I can definitely see happening before Harry's old enough to defeat Riddle, then at least I'll die knowing I can't betray my friends.

There was complete silence around the table as everyone looked at Sirius with expressions in varying degrees of sadness. Finally Lily turned to Peter and asked him the question which would change the fate of the wizarding world.

"Peter, will you be our secret keeper?"

* * *

"Jack!"

"What honey?"

"Someone's at the door, can you get it for me please."

Jack stood up from the sofa and stretched. Glancing at the clock on his laptop where he was working, he groaned upon seeing that it was only eight o'clock in the morning. He had been up all night on baby duty while Audrey got some sleep. The cost of having little Catherine had proved slightly too much for the couple at first and the sleeping in shifts was a result. To try and earn some extra money during the summer, Audrey and Jack had become examiners for their subjects and now spent nearly every hour they weren't asleep or looking after Catherine marking exam papers. The money was good, but they both taught in private schools with hectic terms and Jack secretly resented giving up his holiday to do more work. He knew that Audrey was also exhausted and well suffering together made it seem easier. Who'd have thought it eh? We didn't even have the baby and we still get the no sleep, no money treatment. Smiling ruefully Jack made his way to the front door to look through the peep hole. Recognizing the face behind the door his blood ran cold.

"Good morning Mrs McGonagall!"

"Good morning Mr Edwards can I come in?"

"Sure, of course come on in. I apologize for the mess we haven't really woken up yet."

"Quite alright Jack while I've never had kids I can recognize a house with them quite easily. Why don't we go into the sitting room and talk about how it's going. Oh and could you get Audrey and Catherine I need to have a chat with your wife too."

Jack lead the older woman into the lounge and then raced up the stairs to see his wife.

"Audrey you up yet?" He turned into their room to see Audrey completely naked cradling Catherine and feeding her from a bottle of formula. Leaning on the door frame Jack smirked at the scene. "Sorry to break up this tender moment, but our social worker is downstairs on the sofa."

"TAKE her now!" The end of his wife's expletive was a hushed whisper as she remembered the precious bundle in her arms. No one had shouted in their house since they brought her back from the hospital a month ago. Frankly Catherine made enough noise for all three of them.

As Jack took his adopted daughter from his wife she sprang to the wardrobe and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. As Audrey was tying her hair into a pony-tail, Jack was attempting very hard to concentrate on the squirming baby in his arms and not on the apparent lack of underwear in his wife's frantic dressing.

Quickly they made their way downstairs to a shocking sight. The living room which had been strewn with cushions and little chew toys was spotless and also completely devoid of social workers.

"In here." Came McGonagall's Scottish accent through the connecting doors to the kitchen. "I assumed you hadn't had breakfast so I took the liberty of making us some tea and some toast for you."

"Uh..thanks."

"My pleasure. Now to business." McGonagall fixed them with a stern gaze as they sat at the dining table. Clasping her hands together she surveyed the pair with the bags under their eyes and the squirming happy baby in Jack's arms. "So…how's it going?"

"Um good/well." The pair responded at the same time. Glancing at each other with sheepish smiles Audrey turned to McGonagall. "It's taken some adjustment I'll admit and it'll be a while before we go on any expensive holidays but we're managing."

"Excellent. That's good. No one expects quite how much work goes into caring for a child until they actually have to but it's good to see that you two are coping. How are things on a financial front really? Because there are funding options available to you under the orphan welfare act if you are struggling."

"I wouldn't say we are struggling." Audrey said turning to her husband with a hint of worry that didn't go unnoticed by the older woman across the table.

"Not struggling, we've had to tighten our belt and take extra summer work."

"Extra summer work?"

"Well we are both now examiners, I'm coaching the local football team and Audrey is tutoring."

"Uh huh" McGonagall again took in the blood shot eyes and dark shadows beneath them. "Mr and Mrs Edwards I am very impressed. You are doing exceptionally well for new first time parents. The lengths you are going to ensure the welfare of your family are admirable. However I need to write a report on the status of your family and frankly at the moment I will be forced to include the comment 'working to hard'. Foster care benefit is normally means tested but under the circumstances I feel that it is necessary that you receive those benefits."

"Oh I don't know if we need benefits. Sure money's tight and we're working a lot but we've got schedules and Catherine's always with one of us."

"Mr Edwards let me make myself very clear. This is not a question of pride this is a question of the welfare of your child as well as her parents. You cannot raise your child effectively if you are constantly exhausted. Eventually you will snap and suffer some form of breakdown under the stress or in worst cases resent the child for the loss of lifestyle you are suffering. In early stages you do not feel the same level of commitment to the child as a biological parent and as such this is a dangerous time for Catherine. I am recommending you to receive the full foster care benefits and associated tax breaks. That will result in a direct debit of three hundred and eighty pounds a week into your joint account. I would recommend with this additional income that you scale back on your commitments. Looking after a child is not just taking care of them. You have to look after yourself as well. Good day to you I shall phone ahead before are next meeting.

Jack slumped back in his chair with a sigh as the scary grey haired woman left. "She's right we've been so focused on making sure we have enough money we've been wearing ourselves out." Catherine woke up from the short nap she'd had and after a curious tug at her fathers' nose she immediately scrunched her face up preparing to give her lungs a work out. Recognising the signs and the slight smell Jack turned to Audrey. "It's your turn to change your daughter." She looked at him with a raised eye brow. "Huh why is it she's your daughter right up until it's my turn to changer her nappy? You do it I'll do the next one I've got to get ready for Bobby Jackson's lesson in half an hour. I can't teach a fourteen your old kid without wearing any panties can I?"

Jack grumbled good naturedly as he carried Catherine into the bathroom and made short work of her nappy. Catherine giggled as he wiped her and Jack couldn't help being overcome with emotion as he stared into her deep violet eyes. They had darkened from their baby blue quite quickly but unlike Audrey who missed the bright eyes Jack thought the new shade was even more enchanting. He would happily stare into those dark pools for hours, if Catherine would keep them open long enough without falling asleep. Which she chose that exact moment to do. Cradled and wrapped in his arms he stroked and rocked his beautiful daughter singing softly to her as she drooled on his shoulder. "Rock a bye baby, on the tree top. When the wind blows the cradle will rock. When the bow breaks the cradle will fall and down will come baby cradle and all." He whispered the last line as he lay her in her cot. His wife now dressed again came and stood beside him and he tenderly wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her two him as he began to tear up. Glancing at his face Audrey smiled as her big strong husband was overcome by his emotions. "We're going to be alright aren't we."

"Yeah" she replied giving his arm a squeeze. "We'll be just fine."

* * *

"Well Wormtail you have done well. Very well indeed. I am actually quite surprised you held your nerve."

"Thankyou my lord there's just one thing."

Raising a hairless eyebrow and glaring with his scarlet eyes he hissed "What one thing?"

"Um well you see my lord um well they"

"SPIT IT OUT YOU SNIVELLING RODENT!" Wormtail's shocked squeak was followed immediately by a scream as the dark lord turned his wand on his spy. Rocking in a foetal position after being released from the curse, Wormtail finally whispered.

"They're going abroad for a year until you give up looking for them. I am the secret keeper to Godric's hollow but the Potter's won't be there until next September.

"I hope it was not within your power to allay them from this most vexing course of action?"

"No my lord" came the whispered reply."

"Very well Wormtail, once more I shall be forced to wait. Get out of my sight."


	4. Chapter 4 Orphaned

**I don't own anything. Enjoy. Someone please review. Even just to say if they're still reading it. That would be nice. Thanks guys.**

Chapter 4

31st October 1981

Sirius was ploughing through a literal mountain of letters on his desk in the department of magical law enforcement. He had just returned from a mission that had taken over three months but he still could not believe the depth of the pile of mail and owl droppings on his desk. Scourgifying and scanning most of the mail he made inroads into it relatively quickly. Most of it were reported sightings of known death eaters which he found very strange that they were directed to his desk when he was out hunting vampires for the last ten weeks. He screwed up a report of a cursed cauldron and with impressive skill that he had acquired in the last three hours he lobbed it through the candelabra, off the foe glass, and off the rim and out of the waste paper basket. Scowling at the disappointment he continued his game of lucky or not so lucky dip.

Glancing at the seal he brightened up considerably. Tearing the envelope open he was confronted by a photo of what appeared to be a kitchen table . Turning to the enclosed letter he read the familiar neat script a smile framing his tired features.

_JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:_

_Dear Padfoot,_

_Thank you, thank you, for Harry's birthday present! It was his favourite by far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself, I'm enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises about two feet off the ground, but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course, James thought it was funny, says he's going to be a great Quidditch player, but we've had to pack away all the ornaments and make sure we don't take our eyes off him when he gets going._

_We had a very quiet birthday tea, just us and old Bathilda, who has always been sweet to us, and who dotes on Harry. We were so sorry you couldn't come, but the Order's got to come first, and Harry's not old enough to know it's his birthday anyway! James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it but I can tell - also, Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions. If you could visit, it would cheer him up so much. Wormy was here last weekend, I thought he seemed down, but that was probably the news about the Bones's; I cried all evening when I heard._

_Bathilda drops in most days, she's a fascinating old thing with the most amazing stories about Dumbledore, I'm not sure he'd be pleased if he knew! I don't know how much to believe, actually, because it seems incredible that Dumbledore could ever have been friends with Gellert Grindelwald. I think her mind's going, personally!_

_Lots of love,_

_Lily_

Sirius turned back to the photo and saw to his delight the little black-haired toddler zooming around the kitchen on a toy broomstick with his mother running behind him. The little boy was laughing his head off and Lily looked harassed but happy.

Glancing up from the letter at the clock on his wall he saw it was already four thirty and he needed to get going. Placing the letter and photograph back in the envelope he summoned Kreacher and had him take the letter back to his room in Grimmauld Place. He waved to Alastor and a new recruit whose name he thought was Kingsley as he strode towards the floo terminus. Lily and James expected him at half past six for a Halloween dinner so that gave him plenty of time to pop into Diagon Alley to grab a bottle of elf wine and a gift for harry. He thought he might stop for a drink in the Leaky Cauldron and see if Dung Fletcher was about. He hadn't checked in with the order yet and he wanted to find out what the situation was in Britain without bothering the Potter's with unpleasant thoughts of the war. It was a full moon tonight so Remus wouldn't be coming but it would still be nice to see James, Lily and Peter this evening, not to mention his god-son. Sirius loved his god-son, but padfoot loved him even more, he and James would drive Lily thoroughly insane by prancing round the house as prongs and padfoot for little Harry's enjoyment. Smiling he called out his destination and disappeared in a swirl of green flame never knowing he would never see James and Lily again in this life.

* * *

"Audrey are you ready yet? We're going to be late!" Jack called up the stairs. He was beginning to feel a bit of a fool wrapped in toilet paper carrying a small plastic cauldron full of candy.

"Nearly." His wife jogged down the stairs putting in a skull shaped earring. "So how do I look?" She said spinning around in her short tight black dress with silver cobwebs and a tattered black cape.

"You make a sexy witch, but you've forgotten something."

"My hat's on coatstand, numpty."

"Our child's still in your room, numpty."

"Oh right hang on." Stumbling in her high heels she jogged back up the stairs. Jack craned his head to the side appreciating for the thousandth time how hot his wife was, until she caught him looking. Shouting downstairs as she continued on the landing. "I knew this dress was too short. I think I'll go change."

"If you do that we'll never get their on time! Plus you look sexy, stay like that and I might be forced to trick or treat you later he said." He waggled his eyebrows up at his wife as she came downstairs with Catherine. Also dressed as a witch her costume was purple with silver stars on it and her sleek blonde hair shone in the hall lamp. "Well you might look sexy but she is the most beautiful witch in the world."

The little blonde witch in Audrey's arms stretched out her own ones to Jack and said in a hesitant gurgle "Up-py dada?" Jack's grin split his face as he took Catherine from Audrey who rolled her eyes.

"She's such a daddy's girl."

"To right. She knows who loves her most." Audrey snorted at that while putting on a pointed witch hat.

"Your bandages are coming off."

"I brought a spare roll" he said holding up a roll of toilet paper. Unable to hold back a chuckle Audrey steered them into the car.

"Have you got the address?" She asked, while checking her lipstick in the mirror. Jack was busy strapping Catherine into the child seat in the back.

"It's on the dash. Who do we know who's going?"

"Pete and Di will be there and of course you know John and Barbara from the maths department. Oh and my old friend Jean from Uni married another dentist whose friends with John. Dianna said that she's bringing her two toddlers and some other people are bringing their kids. Apparently John and Barbara have hired a babysitter who'll look after the kids in a the playroom while we socialize."

"ah that's good, Cat wont get lonely then." Having been glancing again at the address Jack only narrowly avoided being carved up by a red route-master."

"Watch where you're going."

Eventually they negotiated their way around London's transport network and found parking thirty or so yards from the hosts house.

"Trick or treat!" Two of them called as John and Barbara opened the door.

"Jack, Audrey come in, lovely to see you, how've you been? Who's this gorgeous little witch?"

"Cat" came the giggled reply as Barbara a large red-haired woman painted green with a fake bolt sticking out of her head cooed to little Catherine.

"Why don't we go upstairs and meet the other children before we grown-ups go party? Hrm."

"Jack you go on I'll make sure that Cat, I mean Catherine's settled." _Damn his infernal nickname is getting into my head. Although to be fair it was Catherine who said it._ Audrey followed Barbara up the stairs to the playroom and was met by a surprisingly large number of children ranging from about two to five as well as two women. There were four boys who were sat down to one side of the room playing with blocks and making forts. On the other side of the room a young girl of about two was sat staring at a picture book. One of the women Audrey recognised immediately as Jean Harris. Her bushy brown hair hadn't changed at all and much to Audrey's annoyance her figure didn't seem to have suffered either. Jean and Audrey had had an uneasy friendship at Uni. Mainly because Audrey's boyfriend of the time Dan had fallen head over heels for Jean, while still going out with Audrey. It had become easier when Audrey went to do her PGCE and trained to be a teacher where she met Jack. It was now easily over two years since she'd last run into Jean and while she couldn't honestly say she'd missed the woman she could say it was genuinely nice to see her. "Oy Harris." Audrey called out one hand on her hips the other holding Catherine. Jean looked up from the girl in the corner who was obviously her daughter.

"Well as I live and breathe, Audrey Stevenson, I can't believe I haven't seen you in what a year?"

"Over two, I'd have said otherwise I'd have known you got preggers at some point."

Jean laughed "yeah come and say hello to Hermione, my daughter and who's this little witch?"

Catherine did her little party trick of uncannily knowing when someone was asking her name and answered. "Cat." Audrey and Jack rarely mentioned that so far it was only one of about four understandable words amongst the toddlers babble. 'Ma, Dada, Birdy and Ka' being the other words that her parents had been able to decipher.

"Yeah this is Catherine," placing her down in front of Hermione and saying "Catherine this is Hermione" Jean's daughter was about two years old. She had curly brown hair dark hazel eyes with hints of chocolate. Jean's eyes were a warm dark brown and it looked as though Hermione's were going to settle on a similar colour. She was also dressed as a witch however she was in a more traditional black cape and hat. She had been pointedly ignoring the boys with a surprising amount of superiority for a two-year old. Clearly deciding that playing forts was beneath her she was instead studying 'Jack and Jill' with the intense focus that only a young child can pay to such distractions.

At this juncture the little girl finally looked up at her new company. With scarily perfect articulation she astounded Audrey with a five word sentence. "I don't like her mummy."

While both Audrey and Jean might have been shocked by her sentence, Catherine thought it was a fantastic trick and tried to emulate it. "do iker mama" followed by a happy scream and giggle.

"Mummy can we go?"

"Hermione that's very rude, be nice you'll just have to be patient."

"But mum!" Hermione was silenced by a look from Jean and went back to looking at the picture book.

"Hermione, darling, why don't you tell Catherine the story?"

"Fine…Once upon a time…." The two adults retreated a way back to watch their children interact.

"Hermione's only two right?"

"Yeah, you spotted it to then."

"What that she can form proper sentences about two years early?"

"Oh and that she's learning to read… Seriously she can spell her name now and can do most three-letter words. She's having trouble with 'the' but is very proud of learning hat today."

"She can read! Jean you need to get her tested she could be a prodigy or a genius or something."

"I don't want that for her. I want her to be normal Augie, I want her to have friends and play with Barbie's and dress up."

The two adults continued to watch their children for a few minutes before going downstairs to join the party.

"I like your hair. But I don't like you." The brown-haired two-year old scowled at the blonde next to her. The words seemed to register as she turned with wide eyes to her companion and a look of puzzlement.

"Ilike... Mioney" She said with an expectant expression waiting for the magic words to sort everything out. Instead her baby babble attempt at her name infuriated the brown-haired girl.

"My name is Hermione." She said crossly, banging her tiny fist on the carpet to emphasise the point.

On more familiar ground at last Catherine gestured to her head and said "Cat I". She then did something that the baby sitter who had checked on a boy who had fallen over nearly missed and eventually convinced herself she had not seen it anyway. Catherine gestured to a toy bunny across the room. It stood up shook itself and bounced across the floor to Catherine who took it and passed it to Hermione. The brown-haired girl stared at the now normal bunny which had moved by itself. Hermione decided that it was probably magic. Unlike the kind in her story books there was no wand or words so she guessed it was the gesture and the desire which made the magic happen. Though she would try for a couple of years she never purposefully made any magic happen. That's not to say that strange and unexplainable things didn't happen around her. Dan and Jean Granger had a pediatric experts number on the notice board with their hands itching to the receiver by the time she turned eleven arguing with themselves to see if there was any scientific explanation for her seemingly magical powers.

Jack had wandered up the stairs to check on Catherine when he saw the bunny hop across the room. He hadn't told Audrey this because at the time he thought he was going mad but it wasn't the first time strange things happened with Cat. He would turn around for a second and she'd have disappeared from her high chair to the play pen instantaneously or her favourite toy would somehow travel halfway across the room without her moving. Audrey had so far apparently not noticed anything strange. Either that or like Jack she had decided to ignore it. Now that he had seen it again and by the shocked look on the brunette toddlers face, there was now a very good reason to talk to Audrey about the odd things that kept happening.

* * *

The purple of twilight was once again oozing its way into the valley of Godric's Hollow as the October evening gave way to-night. A slight displacement of air was all that revealed the cloaked figure of death. Hidden behind a mask of dark metal the dark lord glided down the cobbled street of the sleepy west country village. As he saw people coming round the corner he prepared to disillusion himself when he saw that there was no need. There were other people in cloaks and strange dress. Mostly children but their parents were also often dressed as ghosts or witches. One small child dressed as a witch looked up and said in a friendly voice. "Nice costume mister."

_Ah of course Halloween. We used to have pumpkin pie at the orphanage. How appropriate that on the day when the world beyond this is at its closest to our own I shall make my seventh and tie myself inseparably to this life._

Gliding past the ''trick-or-treaters' he continued on the route he had extracted from Wormtail's memory. There it was the little white cottage in its wild flower meadow. A quick wave of his wand revealed complicated and powerful wards which would alert the inhabitants of his approach. First then to stop help or escape. "Protego apparo, Stareo Ianuam" anti-apparition and portkey wards crashed down into place above the Potter's wards. A powerful confundus ward later and Voldemort was confident that the Potter's could neither escape nor could aid com quick enough to save them.

He turned and after taking a deep breath to prepare himself stepped over the ward line, countered the jinxes and blasted the front door in with a flick of his wand tip. James Potter came flying into the hallway. "It's him Lily! Take Harry and Run. I'll hold him off" James ran to grab his wand on the kitchen counter but Voldemort blasted the surface as he reached for it. Diving behind the sofa. He wandlessly summoned a frying pan and charged the dark lord. The blood of Gryffindor was obvious in his eyes. The normal blue was dark and the berserker rage was coursing through his brain as he bore down upon the man who meant to kill his wife and son.

_How fitting that the heir of Slytherin should be the one to wipe out one of the last of the line of Gryffindor._ "Avada Kedavra". The frying pan hit the floor with a loud clang as silence fell in the room. Turning the face of James with a bare foot, Voldemort tutted at the waste of such a powerful pureblood. The crying his enhanced hearing detected from an upstairs room reminded him of why Potter could never have served. _One down, just the moodblood whore and the brat to go._ Ascending the stairs slowly Voldemort fingered the ring of Gryffindor on his fourth finger. He had been unable to decide in truth whether it was truly the ring of Gryffindor however it was the ring of the third Peverall brother Ignotus from whom the Potter's are descended. Either way it would make a fitting vessel for his final horcrux.

Turning into the master bedroom took in the sight of Lily tears running down her face and arms stretched across the bars of a cot. "Please don't kill Harry! Please!"

_Oh dear I did promise Severus he could have the moodblood. Two more chances then I'll kill her. _"Step aside girl, you need not die here."

"No" she screamed. "Kill me not him, kill me not harry please." She pleaded with him the fear and sorrow for the death of her husband was a white hot pain behind her eyes but she forced herself to stay between Voldemort and her son. She and Alice Longbottom had found the ritual and it was express that it would only work if the mother died trying to protect the son.

"I said stand aside girl or I will kill you, and dogs will feast on the corpses of your husband, your son and then finally your own."

"No you will have to kill me first before I let you get to Harry too."

_So be it, bad luck Severus, you'll just have to find a new plaything. _"Avada Kedavra". Once again the green light flashed through the house and another body hit the floor.

"Morsmordre." He cast the dark mark out the window to announce his victory and the death of the Potters. Turning now with a huge sense of gravity the dark lord prepared the ritual to seal the final piece of his soul. Harry James Potter the prophesied messiah of the wizarding world looked out from the bars of his cot at the strange lights. The end of a long wooden stick touched him on the forehead above his right eyebrow.

_Now the world will never again doubt my power. So die's the last hope of fools._ "Avada Kedavra" he yelled the killing curse and knew no more.


	5. Chapter 5 Magic

**Well here it is. The Prologue is over onwards and upwards to the events of Harry Potter. Perhaps I'll get my first review sometime soon. If anyone is still reading by this point. **

Chapter 5

Before Jack could open his mouth to call up the stairs he was gripped by déjà vu as the clear voice of his daughter rang out through the house.

"Come on Mum we're going to be late!" Jack looked at his daughter, one hand on the door knob shuffling in her impatience. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a French braid and her violet eyes were hidden behind a pair of pink sunglasses.

"Nearly ready." Audrey's response drifted down the stairs to the hallway. "Did you pack the camera Jack?"

"Yeah I've got it. Come on the animals will have all died of old age before we get there."

"Haha very funny." Audrey carefully stepped down the stairs, both hands fiddling with an earring. "Is Simon here yet?"

"Not yet" Catherine replied.

"Well then it doesn't matter if I take my time does it because we can't go till he's here."

"I'm here." A small boy of Indian descent raised a hand out of reflex when confronted with Mrs Edwards the head of history. Simon Gupta was a few months older than his best friend but was still nearly a head shorter than Cat. He was wearing a tatty pair of Canterbury trackies and like Cat was also wearing a red and white Arsenal shirt. If he was honest Simon didn't particularly like football, he wasn't very good and would normally play in goal. Cat however loved the game and was easily as good as any of the boys in their year. Cat loved it and that was good enough for Simon so he practised and read football magazines and sports pages so he would be able to talk to her about it.

"What where did you come from!" Catherine yelled in surprise at her best friend being in her house without her knowing. Beaming she through her arms around the diminutive figure of her best friend and then ruffled his hair thoroughly embarrassing the poor boy.

"I let him in honey. So darling you were holding us up." He gave a cheeky grin to his wife. She scowled at him as she grabbed a coat from the rack and ushered them out the door.

"Hey Cat, what do you want see first?" Simon asked while polishing his thick rimmed glasses in the back seat of the car. "Hrmn I think I'd like to go see the big cats house first and then the reptiles. Is that ok mummy?"

"Sure Catherine, do you want to have lunch before the reptiles or after?" Audrey asked absentmindedly while trying to find the right page of the London A-Z.

"Dunno, guess I'll see when we get there."

Audrey and Jack stayed back and chatted amiably while they watched the two children running backwards and forwards around the big cat enclosures. Simon who was normally a quiet child around other kids his age, really opened up and let loose around Cat. She on the other hand who was an excitable and loud girl and who was in her mother's opinion far too much of a tomboy calmed somewhat around her friend. Watching the two children Audrey found it hard to begrudge her husband the accidental son they'd had. Audrey had been overjoyed at a daughter but lo and behold her husband had got his wish in a girl far more interested in football and adventure novels than horses or barbies like the other girls at school. Jack laughed when he saw them irritating a leopard by pulling silly faces at it. After half an hour of pestering the animals, Cat announced that she was hungry and the small family, plus one, made their way to the zoo canteen. The two kids spent ten minutes in an elaborate bidding system where they attempted to trade half their lunches. Eventually it settled with Cat getting all of Simon's salad, in exchange for half of her fries and all her tomatoes. Audrey chastised her daughter for not eating them, but it was a long running war between the two which Audrey knew she would not win. She had been determined that her daughter would not be one of those fussy children who wouldn't eat the same food as adults, to be fair to Catherine she was not fussy and enjoyed the variety of food her mother who was something of an amateur chef, served up for them. Tomatoes however were in Catherine's opinion the droppings of Satan's' herd of cows. She couldn't stand the taste of raw ones but was perfectly happy as her mother always pointed out to eat them in a sauce when cooked. Like on pasta or pizza. Giving up at last Audrey left them to it and began people watching while Jack, Simon and Cat argued over the destination of some football tournament when it got started again next season.

She watched a family across the room from them with some amusement. They appeared to be in the same situation as them with a family of three with a couple of friends along. The parents were complete opposites of each other the man was enormously fat while his wife was thin and in Audrey's opinion a bit equine of appearance. One of the three young boys was clearly the man's son and was similarly large and round. The other two boys were much more normal, one taller with spiked blonde hair in the style that was so popular these days, and a smaller boy with glasses and messy brown hair. Her amusement sprung from overhearing the conversation in which the son was arguing with his mother demanding a second ice-cream or some other pudding. Growing bored of the soap opera in front of her Audrey turned back to her own drama and carried on eating. After eating they set off for the reptile house. Simon loved cobras and while Cat could take them or leave snakes in general she had had her way when they saw the big cats so it was Simon's turn. However there was something she had to take care of first.

"Mum I'm just going to pop to the loos, meet you in there." Her mother agreed as it would give the two adults a chance to deal with a question they had been considering for a while which they could get Simon's insight on. What to do for Cat's eleventh birthday party.

Cat was just finishing in the loo but before she unlocked the door she heard someone outside her cubicle whisper.

"Is this the way out I'm not sure." The voice sounded masculine and Cat was angry at a man being in the girls bathroom.

"Hey get out of the bathroom this is the girls one." She said as she came out of the cubicle and stopped in horror at the sight in front of her. A huge mottled brown snake reared it's head almost to eye level in the otherwise empty bathroom.

"Hsss, two in one day, well thisss isss interesssting. Humansss don't normally ssspeak." The snake's tongue shot out tasting her scent as her eyes widened in fear and she backed slowly away.

"You can talk?" Cat squeaked out.

"Yesss I can ssspeak. You can underssstand me. Which way isss the way out?" It hissed in reply.

"Go right out the door and then left to the main entrance. Please don't eat me."

The snake seemed to laugh as it slithered out of the door. Cat slowly peeked round the door to the outside and wasn't surprised at all to see visitors and zookeepers running around with children and women screaming. Cat carefully ran round the chaos to the front entrance where she spotted her parents and Simon.

"Cat did you see it? The snake that escaped, it was huge!" Simon contrary to the general mood of fear and disbelief was ecstatic that he was here to see it. He wasn't the only one as a local news crew pulled up in a van carrying camera's and running to try and get a look at the loose snake.

Her mum noticed that Catherine seemed quiet on the ride home in the car she asked if she was alright? Startled as if from sleep she looked at her mum confusedly. After repeating the question she brushed off her mum's concern saying she was tired from all the excitement. Internally her mind was reeling with questions. Animals can't talk everyone knows that. But that one did. Why does weird stuff always happen around me? Like when Karen Nightly was teasing Simon about his glasses in art and the paint tin next to her exploded seemingly on its own. Or the time I fell out of the tree in the park and stopped an inch off the ground before falling again. If she'd asked her parents they'd tell her of the way her bottle would sometimes be in her hand without them knowing how it got from the counter to her high chair by itself, or how they sometimes thought they caught her toys dancing out of the corner of their eyes. Simon would wonder how if Karen cut herself or got a bruise she could rub it and it would disappear. In short when she added it all together Cat was confronted with her biggest and most secret fear. She wasn't normal, she tossed and turned that night in the dark trying to sleep with a question in her head. Am I mad? Am I going mad? These things keep happening and no one else sees them. I'm like the woman in the film. They'll find out I'm mad and they'll lock me up and do tests on me until I die. If I pretend that these mad things don't happen, then it will be as if I never did see them. No one else did. I will not go mad I will not. Cat rocked herself to sleep in bed repeating her mantra.

* * *

"Ah Professor McGonagall, here to see Mr Sampson?" An old witch Minerva did not know addressed her from the secretary desk outside the office of the head of Magical Education for Great Britain.

"Yes I'm here to pick up the muggleborn report." The secretary led the stern professor into the office. Gregory Sampson did have the ministry standard magic window and wood panelling but the rest of his office was quite unusual by any standards, wizarding or muggle. It was covered from floor to ceiling in Ordinance Survey maps with small pins which occasionally pinged and glowed bright colours. Instead of a desk the man had a table in the shape of the British isles with major towns and cities drawn on. This resembled a pin cushion as it was covered in normal safety pins of various colours. Sampson was a very tall wizard of great age. He had been at Hogwarts when Dumbledore was at school apparently. He was extraordinarily thin and almost skeletal in appearance with long dextrous fingers which were currently manipulating a brass object rather like a sextant. With a cry of "Got her!" he selected a yellow safety pin from a 'Woolworths' box and carefully placed it on the table and wrote next to it 'Finchley'.

"Ah Minerva. That time of year already?" He smiled at her over his half-moon spectacles. "Give me a moment I need to add a late addition. You know I was sure this one was just an anomaly but there you go three incidents that's a witch." He grabbed a familiar leather folio and scribbled in a few lines on the last page with a large crow feather quill. "There we are." He tapped the parchment with his wand and then snapped the folio shut and walked around his desk/map and handed it to McGonagall. "Go get 'em tiger." He said with a wink." She raised an eyebrow and opened the folder to scan down the list of incoming muggleborn first years. She was not surprised at all upon reaching the E's to see Catherine Edwards listed. _Time for me to visit my social work case again._ She scanned further down to the P's, pursed her lips and the closed the folio with a snap.

* * *

A few weeks later the day of her eleventh birthday finally announced its arrival with a piercing gleam under the curtain. She knew her parents had planned a surprise for her but she wasn't all that excited.

She got out of bed and went straight to her music stand and tuned and began to play her violin. It helped her think and the smooth Bach she was working on helped her relax after another sleepless night. Simon's family had taken him to Amritsar to see family and she really wasn't that close with her other school friends. Her parents were orphans which explained maybe why they decided to adopt one. She'd never told her parents she knew she was adopted. She'd found her birth certificate a year ago. It didn't matter because they were the only parents she had ever known. In many ways she was closer to her parents than children of that age might normally be. Simon certainly didn't seem to get along with his family but would begrudgingly admit love and affection for them, even if he resented the lack of freedom. She did sometimes wonder in a quiet moment why she had been up for adoption in the first place. Reading newspapers these days she assumed her biological mother had probably gotten pregnant at a young age and was unable to support a child. Whatever the reason she gave thanks that she had been adopted by her mum and dad. She loved them so much. Jack was her best friend growing up. Playing football in the back garden, arguing over who got the last sausage and reading her bed time stories when she was younger. Her was just as loving but in a less relaxed way perhaps. With one parent who far to often tried to act like a big brother, her mum visibly attempted to be the domineering maternal figure who took care of her. But there was still plenty of humour, warmth and general love from her mother that Cat would feel guilty for her moments of curiosity regarding her biological parents. She mechanically finished the piece which she knew so well now she read the score more out of habit than need.

"Hey birthday girl."

"Morning daddy." Cat didn't turn round as she responded to her father poking his head round the door. "What time is it?" She asked while packing her violin away in its case.

"Nearly nine sweety, come downstairs mums made blueberry pancakes for you." before he could say anything more Cat barrelled past him down the hall. Ever since a holiday to New York two years ago., Cat was obsessed with blueberry pancakes and coffee. It was now officially her birthday food.

Audrey turned round in surprise to see her daughter at the table knife and fork in hand looking expectant. "Blimey you made me jump." she scolded having nearly dropped the frying pan I'm surprise. "don't you know it's rude not to announce yourself when you come into a room?"

Disregarding her mother's scolding Cat was focused on the pan. "Are those pancakes for me?" she turned to her mother and gave her best puppy dog impression with big violet eyes and trembling lips.

Her mother's 'hrmmf' accompanied the smack of a stack of pancakes being dropped on her plate. Audrey couldn't stop the smile from passing her carefully maintained frown at her daughter's behaviour as she began to devour the pancakes. She noticed her husband leaning in the doorframe shaking with mirth. What? She mimed at him. He held up his hands in response miming 'nothing'.

"Hey Dad why are you standing in the doorway like a lemon?" Cat didn't look behind her as she continued to shovel the food into her mouth.

"What's a lemon?" He asked as he plonked himself down in the chair opposite and poured himself some tea.

"You know yellow citrus fruit, goes well on fish?" She looked at her father with a cheeky grin.

"Oh you mean these things." He grabbed a lemon from the fruit bowl and tossed it at her.

"Thanks, that'll go nicely." She caught the lemon speeding towards her face and calmly sliced it and squeezed some lemon juice on to a plain pancake which she'd just been heaping sugar on.

Just as Audrey was about to berate her husband for throwing food, the doorbell rang. Glancing at the clock she was surprised to see that it was still only quarter past nine. The presents she'd ordered for Cat had all arrived well in advance so she didn't think it was the postman with a package. Frowning she checked her towelling robe was tied securely round her nightdress and opened the door a little to see who their unexpected visitor was. She was less embarrassed than she might normally have been when the door opened to reveal a familiar face. One who had in fact seen her in a similar state of dress before.

"Mrs McGonagall!" She exclaimed opening the door further, racking her brain to remember the last time the social worker had made an unannounced call. "Wow, we haven't seen you in a few years, please come in. We're still having breakfast if you'd care for some pancakes or tea…" She stopped as she let the older woman in and took in her clothes.

McGonagall was wearing a long dark green dress which brushed the ground, with a black robe similar to a graduation gown over it. On her head was the most surprising thing, was a dark green hat made from shiny satin. A dark green witches hat.

"Wow are you going to a fancy dress party?" Audrey immediately felt rude for commenting as it could just be a peculiar style the woman wore when not in the Borough Council office.

McGonagall allowed herself to be steered through the door and then went into where she remembered the living room was. Gone were the toys and baby paraphernalia or her first few visits, there was now a new book shelf in one corner covered in atlas's and history books. The mantel piece which had once held photos just of Jack and Audrey now was almost overrun with a smiling violet eyed blonde girl posing next to castles and churches all over Europe by the looks of them. Turning to Audrey McGonagall sighed, this would be harder perhaps than normal but this was an emotional experience which always left McGonagall drained. Last one and then I'm done. For another year anyway. "Audrey dear there is something important I have to tell you. All of you in fact. I'll wait here while you go get the other two ready. This might take a while. I'm sorry for disturbing your celebrations. Audrey looked shocked at being dismissed by the stern and tired looking older woman. Audrey and McGonagall had become quite friendly all those years ago as McGonagall had been a lifeline for a scared woman caring for her first child. She had given her so much information on how to look after her, she'd even made her paediatric appointments with Dr Pomfrey for them. It came as a surprise to see the woman look so agitated.

She hurried into the dining room and quickly told the two to go get dressed and then go into the living room. When Catherine came down the stairs, her hair and teeth brushed and a pair of jeans and a football shirt on, she found a tense silence in the living room and a strangely dressed woman in her late sixties sat on the sofa regarding her with a piercing gaze.

"Good we're all here now." She spoke with an aristocratic but still Scottish brogue and her lips thinned as she took in the girl before her. "Catherine would you please sit, we have much to discuss."

"Whoa hold up I hope you aren't going to do what I think you're going to do, because the answer is no you can't!" Jack suddenly burst. McGonagall had been to see Cat before but never to have a conversation with her, the way this was going it was clear the older woman was going to tell her! He wasn't going to let her spoil what they had, she was his daughter as much as if she had had other parents or not!"

"Dad!"

"Mrs McGonagall it is not your place to say this…" She interrupted the now irate PE teacher.

"I assure you Mr Edward's that you misunderstand…"

"DAD" Cat yelled to be heard over the argument. "There's no need for this, I already know I'm adopted."

"I am here to tell you that your daughter is a witch!"

**Please Review.**


	6. Chapter 6 The Letter

**Hi guys slight delay but i think i've been quite quick updating so hope you forgive me. In other news i had my first review. I was so excited until I realised that the reviewer hadn't read any of my story other than the description, which you may notice has been changed a little as a result, to allay any other idiot's confusion. (Yes this person was a tad dumb. Sorry I tell it how it is if you're still reading reviewer.) Still i appreciate all reviews immensely. On with the show and I don't own anything.**

Jack, Audrey and Cat Edwards, did not know where to look, shock, disbelief and horror at Cat's pronouncement warred with disbelief at the nonsense that McGonagall had just pronounced.

"You know?" Audrey mumbled out past the hand which clasped her mouth, her face had blanched in horror at her worst fear realised. "For how long?"

"Since last year. " she said quietly clasping and unclasping her hands in nervousness at the attention she was receiving.

"Why didn't you say something Cat?" Jack leaned back in his chair looking drained and stroked the stubble on his neck.

"Because it's not important DAD." Cat replied vehemently. It doesn't matter to me so why should it be important to you or Mum? Do you think any less of me because we aren't technically related?" Her words trailed off as she became nervous of their reactions. What if they never told her because they didn't really see her as a proper daughter and were trying to pretend.

Audrey jumped up and grabbed her daughter's hands. "Honey don't ever think that, from the moment McGonagall took us to see you, you belonged to us as much as if I'd carried and given birth to you myself." Audrey was crying as she attempted to save her relationship with her daughter. She felt like she was desperately clinging to a lifeline in a dark sea. "Cat I, we both love you so much and we only didn't want to tell you because you are our daughter and it might seem selfish to keep things from you but we didn't want you to be curious about who your parents our, because we are your parents in every way that matters!"

"So you don't love me less because we aren't related?" Cat looked up clearly still afraid.

"Don't ever think that, you silly girl." Jack came over and grasped her shoulder reassuringly, "you are our daughter and we love you more than anything in the world."

Cat grabbed both her parents in a tight hug and silently let a couple of the tears escape, just a little overcome by the strength of the love she felt from her mother and father.

Hers were not the only tears shed, McGonagall had sat quietly throughout the conversation, momentarily forgotten but still deeply affected by the touching love and bond between the three on the sofa opposite. She had been married twice but had never had children and McGonagall was infinitely jealous of the bond of love in front of her. Remembering her task she knew it was time to try again. Perhaps a little differently. She slipped her wand from her sleeve and waved it at the coffee table.

Cat was the first to notice as the other two who were hugging her were facing towards the wall and away from the amazing but impossible sight in front of her. Where had been an empty mahogany table a cork mat had appeared with a slight pop followed immediately by a silver tea set with another pop. She tapped her parents shoulders and turned their attention to the table as the tea-pot floated in the air and poured out three cups. Jack, Audrey and Cat stared in amazement as the tea set which Audrey was certain was not theirs, floated in the air and headed towards them. The tea cups began to gently nudge them. Jack and Audrey shrank backwards away from them which made them nudge more firmly into their hands.

"It's easier if you take the cups, the saucers can get a little violent."

The three occupants of the room who had taken cups turned to see McGonagall still in her witches hat and robes stirring a floating tea-cup with a spoon and making gentle movements with a long thin stick. Remembering what McGonagall had said just after Cat's shocking announcement.

"How are you doing that?" Cat was watching intently as McGonagall motioned with the stick and a tea-spoon stirred sugar into her cup.

"Magic my dear." McGonagall felt on firmer ground here as looks of disbelief were repeated in triplicate.

"But there's no such thing as magic." Jack blustered, still not taking his eyes of the tea set. Another wave of her wand and the tea set wasn't balanced on a table anymore. A giant tortoise was suddenly moving steadily towards the kitchen door with the tea set balanced precariously on its large mahogany shell before it once again turned into a fashionable table with the tray settling with a clatter.

"Yes Mr Edwards there is such a thing as magic, however we try to keep it a secret, otherwise we'd never have a moment's peace from the muggles who would want us to solve all their problems.

"Who keeps it a secret?" Cat said excitement shining her eyes at the incredible display she'd just seen, she still wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't a trick, a very impressive trick, but a trick none the less.

"Witches and wizards dear, I'm a witch and so my dear are you." Cat's face fell as she realised the mistake.

"I think you've made a mistake Mrs McGonagall, I'm not a witch I can't do magic."

"Professor McGonagall, and actually miss Catherine you are most definitely a witch, I have in this folder no fewer than thirty-seven incidences of accidental magic, two of which actually required a team of obliviators to deal with your memory and the memory of several witnesses of the events. Tell me Cat did you ever do anything impossible when you were angry or scared, something you couldn't explain like, teleporting out-of-the-way of a train when you fell on the tracks as a three year old, or blowing up your art class room?" Jack was wincing at the memory of when he saw Cat run off the platform after a pigeon.

"Like talking to a snake?" Cat whispered, wide-eyed with the possibility that she could do magic? It was too ridiculous to comprehend.

"Yes that is a magical skill although not a common one." McGonagall stiffened at this and began to wonder at the girls parentage again. She knew Dumbledore was hiding something from her about the girl. It had been easy to see she was Veela as she grew up but a parselmouth that was a very dangerous thought. _Oh I and Albus will have words tonight._ "It seems that even among magic folk you are special Miss Edwards.

"Back up, so what you're trying to sell is that magic exists and my daughter's a witch…and I suppose the easter bunny and santa claus send their regards from the mad hatters unbirthday party."

"The mad who's what party? Mr Edwards I feel I've been a little side tracked, I am not a social worker, I am in fact a teacher like yourselves, but I teach at a school for magic, your daughter has been accepted to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry." She was unsurprised to see the looks of skepticism from Jack and Audrey. "Listen Jack and Audrey I apologize for lying to you about who I was for over a decade, but the fact is that magic while useful and wonderful is dangerous, we wanted Cat to have a normal life but at the same time we had to keep a close eye on her to keep those around her safe from her magic as well as protecting the integrity of the secrecy of our world. The muggles, I mean non-magic people, cannot know of our existence by law. Seven times Cat has performed magic in the presence of a muggle, twice a ministry team of memory charmers had to be called in to erase the knowledge from the witnesses. Jack, Audrey your daughter has an incredible ability but she needs to learn to control it, by law you must enrol her in a magical institution for a minimum of the five years necessary to achieve ordinary wizarding levels, or owls, in her studies."

"Hang on, why do we have to do this by law?" Jack interrupted, he and Audrey felt like they were floundering under the weight of information.

"Over three hundred years ago the international statute of secrecy was passed unanimously by every magical government in the world. An agreement was made in secret between the muggle rulers and our own, we would not interfere with your world's governments and we would be allowed to disappear, to fade into myth. Imagine if magic was witnessed today, there would be panic, chaos even. Not to mention that magic is dangerous. I was speaking to the parents of one of your future school friends last week. A mister Finnigan, he had successfully blown up his school on two occasions, thankfully nobody was killed in either incidence but there were a few injured. Magic when uncontrolled is volatile and dangerous. That is why all magical children must attend five years of compulsory magical education. Now there are other options for example Beauxbatons school in France has a similarly excellent reputation to Hogwarts however there classes will be taught in French. There is also the option of hiring a ministry approved tutor to home school Catherine however that is a rather expensive option which rarely produces such good results in examinations.

"Examinations?" Audrey asked finally finding her voice amidst the maelström of information being thrown at her.

"Besides normal end of year examinations to ascertain progress at the end of fifth year she will take her OWL's in six core subjects, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions and History of Magic as well as no fewer than two but up to three elective subjects which you can take up in your third year: Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Divination and muggle studies. You will find more information on the subjects in the prospectus. In her seventh year should she wish to continue on past OWLs, Catherine can choose to take her NEWTS which would enable her to apply for a career in the wizarding world. I know this is a lot to take in so I will leave you with all the information and a single question." She turned to look directly at Cat. "Would you like to learn to do magic? I'll pop back next Saturday at ten to discuss your answer." Turning back to the room as she strode to the door she added, "Oh and Happy Birthday Catherine Edwards."

* * *

"Ah Minerva, who did you see today?" Dumbledore confessed himself surprised that his deputy head came barging into his office without knocking with a face like thunder.

"What do you think you are doing Albus? You know who her father is, of course you do and you were just going to what let her waltz in here and start the whole saga off again. I wont let you old man. I wont stand idly by while you let another Dark Lord into this school!" Her voice sounding far more Scottish than normal rose in pitch throughout her tirade until she was practically screaming at the headmaster. "What possible reason can you have for this…this gamble with the lives of those students entrusted into our care. Harry Potter is coming to the school this year and you want to just waltz the spawn of the man who killed his parents in as well." She stared at Dumbledore, her chest heaving and wild-eyed. She knew that they both knew this was an act, McGonagall trusted Dumbledore he had not led the light wrong yet.

"How did you find out? if you can others may as well and that we must avoid at all costs." Dumbledore deflected her rant, and McGonagall was incensed at having her concerns dismissed with such callousness.

"She's a parselmouth!" She sighed exasperated, "You cannot honestly be serious about this, there have only been three parselmouths this century and they were all related, those with the eyes to see will see her connection to the Gaunt's and through them Riddle."

"Yes McGonagall when viewed that way it is elementary however if you had not known she could speak to snakes could you have known who her father was? Of course you couldn't she looks nothing and more importantly is nothing like Tom, at her age he was already cruel and vindictive."

"She has already used magic against another on two occasions-"

"Yes and both times you will see from the incident reports that she was protecting someone from bullying and didn't intend real harm. That tells me she has a strong moral compass and I for one have no qualms about letting this 'spawn' upon Hogwarts. Come Minerva you have observed her for a decade can you honestly tell me you have ever seen anything which leads you to believe that she is anything but that which her carefully chosen parents made her."

She slumped and sat in one of the chairs across from his desk and hang her head in thought, "No Albus you're right if I didn't know I would have thought her nothing but a nice young girl, I'd even have bet galleons on her being placed among my lions next month. However there is something which her parents did not give her."

"Besides from her abilities?"

"Yes, I spotted that girl a mile away for what she is, and then there's the question of her magical core, she's the most powerful child I have ever seen. She will attract attention Albus, a muggleborn, Veela with more power than any pureblood in several generations is not going to go unnoticed for long and the attention she attracts will be exactly the wrong kind of attention."

"Veela are rare in Britain she may escape notice for a while…but these can be explained away Minerva there is no reason I can see other than being a Parselmouth which would connect her with the Dark Lord. My decision is final, she will attend Hogwarts, and we shall keep an eye on her and help her to become the great witch that we should have helped Riddle."

"So that is what this is about isn't it? This is your second chance for failing the boy. Well then Albus if this goes ill and if people or the girl get hurt then on your head be it."

* * *

Audrey Edwards was scrubbing furiously at the lasagna stains on a plate when her husband came down the stairs, he made more than enough coming downstairs but Audrey failed to acknowledge his presence as she reduced her world down to the sink and still stubbornly orange crockery.

"We need to talk Audrey". Jack snaked his arm around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder while breathing in the scent of her. He nuzzled into her neck which elicited a slight moan which he couldn't distinguish for one of pleasure or irritation at his actions.

"What about Jack." She continued scouring and ignored her husband.

"You know what about…Audrey" He stressed her name and she slammed down the plate in the sink and turned round in fury.

"NO Jack, I'm not having it, it's ridiculous I'm not sending our daughter away till Christmas to some bloody castle which we can't even see!"

"Well I don't see what option we have, Cat's abysmal at languages so that rules out the French one and you know we can't afford a private tutor."

"I mean in general!" He knew what she meant and she knew that, and she also knew that she had no choice and that was what made her so angry. The fact that an invisible world which until six days ago she had no idea existed could control the life of her daughter like that made her dig her heels in and resist with all her being. "I'm not sending my daughter away. They can't make us."

"You think I like this? She's the most precious thing in the world to me. Do you think I want to send her off to bloody Scotland so we only see her for four weeks in nine months!" He tightened his grip around her and kissed her forehead, he looked down into her hazel eyes examining the flecks of yellow that he used to love to stare into. He stroked her blonde hair, now flecked with grey in the same way he soothed Cat in a nightmare. "You know they can don't you, they could take her away and erase every memory of her from our minds. It would be like we'd never had her." His wife buried her head in his shoulder as she was wracked with sobs. "We want what's best for her and you and I both knew that something was coming. Ever since you saw Cat do something impossible on the day you brought her home."

"How did you know?" Audrey didn't look up from where her tears were staining his pyjamas.

"The girl got her teddy's to do a dance, I might have dismissed the juice jumping from the table to her hand, but you don't miss a stuffed animal carnival."

"She can do magic." Audrey's whisper was barely inaudible. Jack continued to stroke her hair and rub her back as her crying subsided.

"If we want to keep her then we have to let her go. At least for a little while. You know what they say absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"You're so full of bullshit you know that Jack Edwards."

"That's why you love me Audrey Edwards."

* * *

Saturday morning arrived and with it Professor McGonagall, this time she wore a long simple travelling cloak with her favourite crooked black pointy hat, it was a little worn and the pheasant feather was a little ragged but it would still do the job of reminding the muggles that she was a witch. For once she found the Edwards's all dressed and sitting in the living room. She took in the two adults looking nervous on the sofa while the girl was practically bouncing in an armchair with her feet swinging and palpable waves of excitement coming off her. After polite good mornings she got straight to business.

"Have you made a decision about Catherine's magical education?"

"Yes we have." Jack squeezed his wife's hand and glanced at her giving her one last chance to back out.

"- We are going to enroll her in your school." Audrey finished with a stony expression.

Minerva could see that while Catherine was naturally excited her parents were far from thrilled about the idea of sending their daughter away for nine months of the year to teach her something that they hadn't believed in only a few days ago.

"Right then I'll need you Catherine to read this…" She said passing her a cream parchment envelope with a red wax seal. "It's just a formal confirmation of your place at Hogwarts as well as your books and equipment list." Catherine carefully broke the seal and began to read the flowing emerald script. After scanning it once she turned to the second sheet and her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Professor McGonagall, I've never heard of these things and I've no idea where to get them, can you mail order them?"

"Let's have a look dear." Audrey said taking the list and staring blankly at the outlandish items.

"Yes Catherine you can order some of these items in but I would generally recommend that you buy them yourself, in the case of wands and robes you'll get a better fit if you buy them in person, and with other items you'll be charged full price whereas in a shop there might be start of term sales on many of these items. With that in mind if you don't mind we should be going." McGonagall stood up abruptly and began to bustle the thoroughly confused Edwards's out of the living room and towards the front door. "We really should get a move on to beat the rush." Most of the school letters went out this week and there'll likely be a lot of your fellow students buying their supplies today."

"Where can we buy these things?" Catherine asked once again staring at the items on the list. "Hey mum it says I can have a pet.

"We're going to Diagon Alley, and yes a first year may own a cat, rat, toad or owl. Personally I'm something of a cat person however I would personally recommend that you purchase an owl. Magical familiars are more intelligent than regular animals and owls are used to deliver mail and parcels in the magical world."

"Aw cool, mummy can I have an owl so I can send letters to you."

"We'll see dear," With the casual telepathy which exists between long married couples she glanced at her husband and saw his carefully schooled calm expression and guessed he was worrying about the cost. She whispered to her husband "her fees are paid for from some 'ministry grant' and we have savings I'm sure this won't be so bad."

Having overheard their conversation McGonagall decided to allay their worries. "A brand new set of equipment for a first year minus an owl would normally come to a sum of around a hundred and fifty galleons for a complete set of equipment, robes and books."

She endeavored to answer their questions but could see that they were if possible becoming more and more confused as they exited Charing Cross station and she lead them towards the Leaky Cauldron. This was one of the most fun bits of her duties with muggleborn families. She lead them with bemused expressions into the dark pub, the parents looked confunded as they were led through a door way that they had the strangest urge to walk past even as they were passing through it.

The pub was all but empty at half past nine in the morning, with most of the breakfast crowd already gone and no one coming in for elevenses yet. Tom glanced up as the little bell chimed their arrival. "Morning Minerva, the usual?" The hunchback asked with a cheeky wink as the professor performed the now familiar ritual of leading muggles wide eyed and staring through his pub. Catherine didn't know what to stare at first taking in the candles and moving paintings of men in robes drinking pints in the pictures, or slumped in their chairs. She could have sworn she could hear them quietly talking or snoring as she passed. Then her gaze was captured by the cleaning witch waving a wand at some chairs which stacked themselves on the table while a mop danced across the floor like a ballet dancer twirling and jumping to an invisible tune directed by the witch waving her wand like a conductors baton.

"I don't know what you mean by the usual Tom." McGonagall replied in a stern voice, but returned the wink as she led them to the back yard. "Book me a table for four to lunch," she called back on an after-thought. The four stepped through into the back yard by some old fashioned tin dustbins and a brown brick wall. After the interesting sights she had been shown in the pub Cat confessed herself disappointed by their current location.

McGonagall with a hint of showman's pride drew her wand from her sleeve and with a flourish ensuring all eyes were on her tapped a brick in the wall.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley."

**Please Review. Will update soon as I am ahead by a few chapters.**


	7. Chapter 7 Riddles and Wands

**I'm updating again, aren't I a good fanfic author? Don't answer that. Or do if you feel you have the time to review my efforts. I don't own anything blah blah blah. On with the show.**

Chapter 7

Cat stepped through the arch that had materialised with the shuffling and rotating bricks and looked out at the wizarding world.

McGonagall was expecting one of several possible reactions: shock, awe and even catatonic denial of what was before them . She was not prepared for the uncontrollable giggling which initiated with Cat and then spread to her parents. "What are they wearing?!" Cat finally asking wiping tears from her eyes and taking deep breaths to control her giggles. She just couldn't believe it, admittedly there were fewer warts but there were pointy hats and cloaks, an old man walking past with a long grey beards nodded to McGonagall and stared at the Edwards's Cat couldn't help but stare back at the man with a broom stick over one shoulder and a cauldron filled with what appeared to be turquoise carrots sticking out of the top. He had on a dusty looking set of brown robes which fell to the floor and frankly she thought it was one of the funniest looking things she had ever seen.

"I don't know what you're laughing at Miss Edwards, you're the ones who are attired strangely." She motioned to their jeans and jumpers and motioned to the robed figures down the road. Now that you've finished gawking shall we?" Eyebrow raised and haughty aura firmly in place McGonagall began to lead them down the cobbled street pointing out the various shops which they would need to stop at and a few which might want in future years. "…and that's quality Quidditch supplies, that would be where you would buy a broomstick and Quidditch supplies in your second year or later if you are a part of the team or just enjoy flying. There are school brooms available however they would not be suitable for Quidditch should you make a house team as it is rather competitive and the championship is hotly contested. There are plenty of other house clubs and societies for example a chess club, debating club, dueling club was held last year but I'm not sure if it will be continued with our new defense against the dark arts teacher. The charms professor Flitwick, was a dueling champion in his youth but as head of Ravenclaw and sponsor of the charms and choir clubs I doubt he has time to sponsor a third. Do any of those interest you?"

Cat, however, had kind of zoned out of the conversation after the part about broomsticks. "So you really fly on broomsticks? What is Quidditch?"

"Yes we sometimes use broomsticks for transport but they are predominantly used for Quidditch these days, apparition and portkeys are more convenient and much faster obviously. Quidditch is a sport played in the air on brooms where players throw a ball to each other and attempt to get it through three hoops eighty feet up. Would you be interested in flying?"

"I think so, I'm not afraid of heights and that sounds like fun, is it like netball but flying?" McGonagall lead them to the fork at the end of the street to a large marble building which at first glance appeared to be built in a Palladian style with columns and facades, until you noticed that the entire building was crooked with one floor leaning in the opposite direction to the one below.

"It shares some similarities with netball. Right this is Gringotts, the wizarding bank, what you need to do is open account, you need to deposit a token galleon so that you qualify as a Gringotts customer and have access to their currency changing services." She led them to the first teller who happened to have finished with his customer. "Good morning we've come to open an account and exchange muggle currency for goblin." McGonagall finished with a slight nod to the goblin.

Cat couldn't take her eyes off the thing behind the counter, it had ears easily a foot long and a nose at least half that. It's black iris-less eyes focused on Cat and she instinctively decided that it was either trying to scare her or it was evil, either way she didn't like the creepy looking thing with long fingers and pointed nails.

It scratched her name onto parchment with a quill and had her parents sign the form. "Is the account for the girl?" It sneered at the Edwards's.

"It might as well be I suppose," Audrey said, "She'll certainly get more use out of it than we will."

"If you would sign…" The goblin handed Cat an ink black quill with no sign of ink. McGonagall was busy studying the small print on the top sheet of the form and was startled at two sharp intake's of breath, the first from Cat who was rubbing the back of her left hand where a red mark had appeared, the second was from the Goblin who looking puzzled reached for a stamp and slammed it down on the form.

"Account creation request denied. If you'll excuse me I will go get an account manager to discuss your vault."

"My what?" Cat asked, looking annoyed as she still rubbed her hand where her name had appeared looking like she had scratched it on the back of her hand, not quite breaking the skin but it looked irritating.

McGonagall raised her eyes to the ornate ceiling and sighed. She knew where this was going, you couldn't open a new account with Gringotts if you already had one. Obviously the blood quill had detected a previous account. It obviously didn't belong to her parents as they didn't share the same blood, so…

"Miss Riddle?...Follow me please."

McGonagall gathered the Edwards's and ushered them to follow the new Goblin. He led them into a plush office with padded chairs around a large mahogany desk. The back wall was covered in ledgers and folios while the others were bare but for flickering torch sconces.

"My name is Snaglock, I'm the account manager for your account Miss Riddle. I am going to be plain." He said steepling his impossibly long fingers and staring at the blonde girl in the red leather chair. "I assume you were unaware of your account as you attempted to open a new one. Your father did not write a will and left no indication of an heir when he died. It is the policy of this bank that any unclaimed vaults will be taken by the bank and the contents taken by the bank. However as there is clearly an heir you shall receive the financial value of the account upon it's closure minus the ministry inheritance tax of twenty percent plus the Gringott's sale managing fee for the artifacts which were sold upon it's closure. This is the statement for your account, the vault is still available so it will be refilled in due course with the amount shown."

He handed the overwhelmed girl a sheaf of parchment covered in black ink and numbers. She immediately passed it to her father who held it out in front of him and read the figures. He queried the mention of an apartment in Knockturn Alley which had been sold. And then raised his eyebrows at the sum at the bottom. "So Cat has nearly one and a half million galleons after all expenses?"

"That is correct."

"What is the exchange rate on Galleons to Pounds?"

"At the current rate it is eight Pounds twenty-one to the Galleon."

These words were met with stunned silence by the three Edwards's. _Bloody hell her dad was rich. _Audrey thought. Jack was conflicted between relief that he didn't have to worry about nearly a thousand pounds on school supplies while at the same time wondering how someone that wealthy hadn't made a will, or couldn't take care of his daughter for that matter. This was all over Cat's head a bit as she was reading the top sheet of parchment.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle." Cat whispered reading the name on the sheet. The space next to spouse was empty but next of kin had magically filled with 'Catherine Sophia Edwards'. She glanced furtively at her father and mother who were reading the statements. McGonagall and the goblin were both watching her. She gulped and pretended to read the sheet. She had seen in that glance that McGonagall knew her father, she was surprised by how desperately she wanted to know the man who had left her a small fortune even if he hadn't known she existed or had chosen to ignore her existence. She would ask McGonagall who he was and how he died, but not now she was too loyal to her parents to do that. It didn't matter as this man wasn't her father but she only had a small family and wanted to know more about her relatives, especially since she had all of his money.

_Albus should have seen this coming. We might be able to keep the truth from others but how will we stop her finding out about her father now she knows his name. We're going to have to tell her. Perhaps not the whole truth but at least some of it, we need to make sure she won't tell people her father's name. It is not common knowledge and while death eaters do not know his name, those families that supported the light are all well aware of the half-blood Tom Riddle. _

"Well then Mr Snaglock since the vault is not yet open could we have a bank draft book to make purchases with?" McGonagall had taken out a golden pocket watch and realised they had been talking for nearly half an hour. "Unfortunately we must get on as I am meeting another of your future class mates after lunch to show them around."

They trailed out of the bank and McGonagall decided where to go first. "I think Madame Malkin's robes first, they can get you sized and we can collect them in an hour, also while you're being measured we can get your potions and herbology supplies."

She led them into a shop with beautifully ornate dresses and hooded cloaks on rotating and hovering mannequins. Inside the front of the shop there were many racks of robes in all colours and styles, plain, as well as richly embroidered with stars, moons and symbols. While Cat had at first found wizarding fashion amusing she was now entranced by a set of beautiful cloaks in shimmering pale blue and silver silk. She was decidedly less impressed with the school robe section McGonagall lead them to which turned out to be, apart from a black cloak and pointy hat, similar to normal school uniform. There was already a boy with carrot orange hair being fitted for his school robes. As the shopkeeper was kneeling down to measure his trouser line he turned his head to look at the new customers, with a bored expression. His mother a dumpy woman with curly hair in the same shade of red turned and her face brightened with a smile.

"Good morning Minerva, how are you?" McGonagall smiled thinly at Molly Weasley, she had been proud of the high achieving Bill her eldest, and Charlie Weasley was one of the best Quidditch players to play for Gryffindor in decades but frankly after only two years with Fred and George she was growing to like the woman less and less. It had been her duty to inform the Weasley matriarch of their misdemeanours as their head of house. None of said misdemeanours had caused serious harm and were always in a spirit of good fun or in humorous retaliation against bullying. Frankly they were some of her favourite students and she felt that Mrs Weasley was far too harsh on them. She would never admit it but the toilet seat sent to their father at work was hilarious.

"Nice to see you Molly, outside of my office anyhow. Is this your youngest?"

"My youngest son, this is Ronald, Ginevra will be coming next year."

"Ah right. Well Ronald, there have six Weasleys in Gryffindor while I've been head and too many Prewitt's to count, think you have what it takes to join my lions?" She sized the boy up, he was too tall for his age and looked a little grubby but if his brothers were any indication he would either be talented or hard working or both.

"Ah escorting a new muggleborn Minerva? Hello dear my aren't you pretty." She said sizing up the blonde girl before her. "This is Ron he's going to be in your year at Hogwarts."

_Ok Cat relax. _"Hello my name is Catherine but everyone calls me Cat…unless my mum's around." She qualified following her father's fake cough. Her mother didn't hear as she was discussing the different robes needed with Madame Malkin and McGonagall.

"Hello. Mum can we go get lunch." Ron barely acknowledged Catherine. Her face fell, she had tried too hard. She wasn't cool enough. _I always try too hard, it puts people off._

Not yet dear I need to have a look at the second-hand robes first to see which ones are closest to your size." Sensing the failure of a first meeting both parents steered their children to the task of buying school robes. Catherine could not deny the experience of standing on a stool and being measured by a magical hovering tape measure wasn't as fun as it sounded and quickly grew bored. Knowing that money was not a problem her parents made good use of the bank draft book and bought her nice new robes which would be made in under an hour to her exact size. She realised that the robes were actually very practical as they were not compulsory during the summer term but they were warm and fairly waterproof for the winter, which she knew from a weekend in Edinburgh was pretty grim in Scotland. _Good for the crappy British weather in general._ She thought to herself.

While the robes were being made up McGonagall went and took her mother to buy potions and herbology equipment while Jack and Cat would go to Ollivander's to pick up a wand.

The window display for Ollivander's was much less interesting than the one for Malkin's robes. It was a single dusty faded purple cushion with a long brown wand. There was a little tinkle from the bell as they walked through the door and stood gazing at the floor to ceiling boxes only a couple of inches in height and width.  
"Ah to sell or not to sell that is the question." They were startled by an old man with manic hair and intense eyes who had appeared as if by magic behind a counter. Which when Catherine thought about it was probably true. "I think it is a question much more easily answered this time." He came forward and looked intently at the blonde girl. He was a short man and she didn't have to look up much to meet his penetrating gaze. "I cannot know what my wands will go on to do, but I can guess." He paused and placed a finger to his lips contemplating. "My conscience can live with the consequences this time." He smiled and pulled out a tape measure. "Wand arm?"

"What?" A thoroughly confused Cat responded to the little monologue from the strange man.

"Which hand do you use for your wand?"

"I'm right-handed…? Ollivander let go of the tape measure and it immediately began to measure her fore arm, her wrist and hand, the distance from her hand to her eyes, the circumference of various other appendages including her head momentarily blinding her, and on and on.

Ollivander having apparently forgotten that she was being assaulted by the tape measure began stroking boxes and muttering to himself. He pulled one out with a flourish and presented it to her. Removing the lid he bowed to her and handed her a thin piece of wood. "Ash, 12 and a quarter-inch, dragon heartstring, strong and unyielding, good for transfiguration and curses." She took the proffered piece of wood and looked at it. "Wave it then girl, it's a wand not a candle." She hurriedly complied only for the end to explode with acrid smoke and a noise like a whoopee cushion.

"Nope that wont do. Let's try something more flexible. Let's see ah here we are. Willow, fourteen inches, Kelpie mane hair." He proffered a longer thinner wand. "Nice and swishy good for delicate charms and enchanting." Once more she waved it only to have it snatched out of her hand before anything happened. "Nope not right. Not right at all needs more power but with a little flexibility." She began to believe that the man was completely mad as a succession of wands were handed to her and either snatched away immediately or led to various things being broken and a general mess of opened boxes and wands began to pile up on the counter.

Ollivander stopped after what felt like half an hour from his previous whirlwind of activity. "Hrmm tricky customer eh?" He seemed happy rather than irritated but was no longer manic. "I thought Phoenix but it is still waiting for another. I don't think I have the answer to this riddle. Ha ha." He chuckled to himself. "I have a few which weren't made by me, there is one which I feel I should have tried immediately. Yes it's so perfect for you. How arrogant I've become in my old age that I alone would have the right wand for every witch or wizard. Well it was bound to happen eventually I suppose." He went into a back room and they could hear a certain amount of cursing. "Here we are." He announced upon returning looking slightly dusty. "This is not an Ollivander creation, but a Gregorovitch. He gave me a few in exchange for a few of mine to study. Yew, thirteen inches, it bends but is still strong, I think it will suit your talents, but more importantly it will suit your temperament. The core is a Veela hair, powerful and dextrous but far too selective, it is not a core that I use but I suspect it will probably be the only one which will work for you." He handed her a light grey polished wand, with intricate scroll work in the a flame pattern. Instantly upon touching her hand it felt warm to the touch and a surge of energy flew through her arm and her golden locks flowed in a nonexistent wind.

Ollivander smiled satisfied. "Well at least I can still say that I have always found the right wand, I can no longer claim to have made every wand that fits." Cat loved the feel of the wand and refused to put it back in the box after her father had paid eleven Galleons for it. Saw McGonagall and her mother waiting outside.

"Happy Birthday dear." Her mother held up a cage in which sat a pretty tawny owl with big amber eyes and golden brown feathers. It nibbled at her finger after she fed it some of the treats Audrey handed her and she loved it.  
"You'll have to think of a name for her now she's yours. But first we need to grab your school books and then go have lunch after which I'll have to leave you."

It didn't take them long to get her school books as the shop appeared to have emptied over lunch bar a few customers. Cat insisted on picking up some extra books such as Hogwarts a History and Quidditch teams of Britain and Ireland, so that she would have something to talk about with other kids next time she was introduced. Staggering under the weight of her books, equipment and the robes they'd picked up they made their way to the leaky cauldron. McGonagall had gone with her mother and picked up a large blue steamer trunk with embossed in gold letters on the lid and both ends. They put all their purchases bar the wand into the trunk before McGonagall cast temporary shrinking and weightless charms on it so that Jack could fit it into his pocket. They released her new owl after telling it their address and went and had lunch. At the end of the meal McGonagall rose and stated.

"It has been a pleasure to watch you grow Catherine and now to see you go into the wizarding world. I'll see you on September the first at Hogwarts. Remember what I told you, walk through the barrier between platform nine and ten after saying goodbye to your parents. Goodbye till then Miss Edwards."

"Goodbye Professor McGonagall."

**Review please. I'd use the 'it'll speed me up threat' but I can't seem to resist updating for more than a day or two so that'd be an empty threat. See you next time.**


	8. Chapter 8 Journey Begins

Chapter 8

"You will write to us at least once a week?"

"I'll write every day mum I promise."

"Don't do that you'll wear out Rodney." Jack chuckled and the owl in it's cage seemed to agree with him as it hooted.

The Edwards family pushed a Kings Cross trolley along the polished floor towards platform nine and ten. It drew the occasional glance by porters and passengers due to the large old-fashioned steamer trunk and more strangely the tawny owl in a cage resting on top.

They stopped at the barrier and Cat turned to look at her parents. "Well mfmm…" she attempted before being crushed in a hug by her mum who had changed her mind.

"Nope this is silly, you're not going." She continued to crush her daughter in a tight hug. Jack eventually stepped forward and gently removed his wife's arms from his daughter. He then replaced hers with his own all though without trying to squeeze the life out of her. After a few moments he pulled back and with hands on her shoulders said "I love you Cat, we both love you so much. It's fine to miss us but it will feel like you've been there a week and it'll be Christmas and we'll see you again. Be good, work hard, wash behind your ears and all that…"

"And have fun." Audrey managed to hiccup out as she sobbed and clung to Jack.

"I love you Mum, Dad. I'll see you soon." Cat pulled them both into a hug trying to hide the tears in her eyes at their parting. After what felt like far too short a time they released each other and with one look back, Cat turned and pushed the trolley towards the barrier. She sped up to a run and shut her eyes tightly as she approached the barrier. And then there was a rushing and there was light behind her eyelids and sounds of laughing and chatter and the trundling of trolleys and she opened her eyes. A scarlet steam train greeted her, with the words Hogwarts Express in gold along its side below the now familiar coat of arms showing the lion, eagle, badger and snake. It was beautiful and strange and her mind did not at first believe what her eyes told her. She turned round to see nothing but blank brick wall and a sign saying exit keep clear.

"Bye Mum, Dad." Cat whispered. She touched her face and found her finger wet with tears,_ no I want this, I want to learn magic and find out who I am._ Slowly she managed to get a hold of herself and again looked down the platform, This proved to be a mistake as all she could see was parents hugging children, they were strangely dressed true but they were saying goodbye to their families and she nearly started crying all over again as the thought of not seeing her parents for months came flooding back.

"Are you alright dear?"

Cat turned slowly towards the speaker. It felt like her mind was swimming up from deep water, as she slowly was able to focus. A hand touched her shoulder, somewhat hesitantly and gave her a gentle touch.

"Don't worry dear; you'll see them again before you know it. And you'll have so much fun you wont remember to miss them." The speaker produced a handkerchief from the end of her wand and wiped Cat's eyes. _Oh I did start crying again. What is wrong with me today? I just can't stop blubbering._

"What's your name dear?" The old woman who Cat could now see for one, wore a deep emerald set of robes and a matching witches hat, with what looked like a raven perched on the brim. In one hand she held a green leather handbag and in the other she had a hand resting on the shoulders of a boy.  
"Catherine Edwards." She managed to sniff after a few seconds.

"A pleasure miss Edwards, I am Mrs Longbottom and this is my grandson Neville." She turned to the somewhat portly boy next to her and scolded him. "Neville say hello, boy." Neville immediately hurried forward nearly tripping over his trunk in the action and offered his hands. "Hello Catherine."

Feeling a little better and resisting the urge to giggle, Catherine gave a small, watery smile and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you Neville." Neville gave a hesitant smile in return to the pretty girl in front of him.

Cat saw the older Longbottom whip out an ornate gold pocket watch and with a raised silver eyebrow under a monocle check the time. "Well it's five to eleven, so I shall take my leave of you Neville, remember to be a gentleman and find miss Edwards a seat on the train." She turned to the small blonde girl before her with the startling violet eyes. "A pleasure to meet you miss Edwards." With that she turned on her heel and disappeared with a crack. Catherine literally jumped backwards, she was so startled and promptly fell over her own trunk. Rodney hooted at her angrily and shuffled his wings as his cage was bashed by the falling trunk.  
"Sorry Rod." She said standing up again and dusting off her jeans.  
"I like your owl. My gran wouldn't let me have one because uncle Algie got me a toad for Christmas." He picked up a small cage with his trunk and waited for something. "Well shall we find a compartment?" He asked after a few seconds of Cat staring at him blankly.

"Oh right, ok." She followed Neville through the crowd, with many apologies and an amount of angry hooting from Rodney, she managed to avoid any serious injury or maiming to other people on the platform. She struggled to get her trunk up onto the train. It was damn heavy and she nearly lost her balance every time she tried to step up onto the train while dragging it.

"Here let me get that." She looked up into the grey eyes of a handsome boy with ruffled dark brown hair. Cat decided that his already chiselled features and strong jaw line made him look nice He smiled and grabbed her trunk. "You have to let go, I can't lift it and you at the same time." The boy said with a grin.  
"Oh right thanks." Cat blushed and released the handle. She realised she was staring at him and hurriedly looked away and stepped past him onto the train. He chuckled and hefted her trunk.  
"Just a sec dad." The older boy called back to a bespectacled man in tweed robes and a deer stalker. _Wizard's really do dress strangely._ Cat chuckled to herself remembering the stuffed bird on Neville's Gram's hat. Neville led them into an empty compartment, and the older boy heaved both of their trunks onto the luggage rack. He smiled and shrugged off their thanks before excusing himself to say goodbye to his parents and go find his friends. He wished them luck for the sorting and laughed at their blank expressions. "You'll see when you get there. Nice to meet you guys." He gave a winning smile to Cat who again felt heat rise to her face and ducked out of the compartment. Neville stood on the seat and busied himself with his trunk in the rack. Cat sat down and began idly watching the people outside while twirling her wand in her hand. She saw a blonde haired boy in a pin stripe suit with his equally blonde elegantly robed mother send a red spark from his wand at a black boy in a similar blazer who dodged and fired one back. "Neville can we do magic here?" Cat asked turning back to the boy across from her who had gotten a large book out.  
"Yes, this is a place like Diagon Alley where you can do magic because it's impossible for muggles to see you do it."

Cat got excited, she had been told by McGonagall that she wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school and she was itching to have a go at some of the spells she'd read about in the standard book of spells grade one. Cat would begrudgingly admit that while she was smart she didn't work as hard as she should, and had somewhat surprised her parents over the past few weeks by both reading and taking notes on her text books. Her reasoning had been that the other students who had wizarding parents would have an advantage on her and she was already behind. She assumed that Neville would know lots of magic and she really hoped it was easy to do and that she didn't embarrass herself. She lovingly stroked her wand admiring the intricate patterns in the wood before plucking up the courage to try.

"Lumos", she said holding her wand out in front of her like a tiny sword. She beamed as the end of her wand lit up brightly like a small lightbulb on the tip had been turned on. "Nox." When she finished the charm she felt a slight tug in her mind not dissimilar to, in a strange way, as if she had been standing and the relief upon sitting down. Or like holding something heavy and putting it down. She tried a different spell taking more care this time to point it away from Neville who was watching her intently. "Vermillious" she incanted thrusting her wand with a slight twirl as the book had said. This time she felt the slight tug in her mind as a stream of scarlet sparks flew out of her wand at the floor. Once again she felt a slight relief as she ended the flow of magic.

"Wow." She looked at Neville who was fingering his own unornamented wand. "You're really good."

"What?"

"I can barely do a Lumos, I thought you were a muggleborn?"

"Um I am-"

"Excuse me do you mind if I sit here?" The compartment door opened to reveal another girl who looked to be in first year. She had long bushy brown hair down past her shoulders and large brown eyes, she had a trunk on the ground and a small pile of books under her arm. She had already put on her black Hogwarts robe but was still clearly wearing jeans and a blue jumper underneath.

"Sure…" Cat looked to Neville to see if he minded and he nodded with a shy smile.

"Hello I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" She walked into the compartment and stuck out her hand to both Cat and Neville.

"Cat, and this is Neville". Cat smiled really hoping she made a friend, she wasn't sure if the shy boy liked her or not.

"Cat? Is that short for Catherine?" Hermione furrowed her brow and crinkled her nose seeming annoyed that someone might be named after an animal.

"Yeah, but my friends call me Cat." She replied with what she hoped was an open smile. Hermione smiled back timidly and asked for their help getting her trunk on to the shelf.

"I like your owl…Cat." She said admiring the tawny bird with the big amber eyes. "What's its name?"

"Rodney, do you guys mind if I let him out he's getting irritable about being shut in his cage." Rodney seemed almost as taken with Hermione as he had in the shop with Catherine. He looked haughtily about as he enjoyed the attention of Hermione's careful attention to his feathers. It was after all his right in life that people would lavish attention on his plumage. Hermione giggled at the owl's imperious attitude as it perched on top of Cat's knee.

"So which house do you guys think you'll be in, I personally hope I'm in Gryffindor as it seems the most noble house, and historically it has had the largest number of Muggleborn's so I should hopefully fit in there. Ravenclaw would also be good as they have a reputation for being the most academic which I suppose will look good to future employers. I suppose Hufflepuff would be alright but I still think I'd be disappointed to be placed there." Cat listened to the girl with wide eyes and worried that she hadn't given any thought to future employment the test to place you in your house now seemed a far more scary thought with the possibility that it could affect here entire future.

"My mum was a Gryffindor as was most of my family apart from me dad. He was a Ravenclaw first in about a hundred years for my family. My Gran was convinced I wasn't going to get into Hogwarts, she thought I was a squib as I didn't do any magic until my great uncle Algie dropped me out of a window to get me to do magic."

"He dropped you out of a window?!" Cat gasped. Hermione mirrored her horrified expression.

"He didn't mean to but it was fine cos I just bounced down the garden path. They were so happy I was a wizard he bought me Trevor." Cat raised an eyebrow and shared a concerned look with the brown-haired girl to her left. _He dropped him out of a window and bought him a toad to congratulate him on being a wizard. These people are really quite strange._

While she was pondering the quirks of this new world the train gave a long whistle and began to move off.

"Oh isn't it fascinating that in 1848… or was it 1849? Anyway in the 19th Century to get around the problem of transporting hundreds of students without muggles seeing the ministry, under Ottaline Gambol bought a steam train." Cat tuned out of Hermione's impromptu lecture a little as she gazed out of the window, idly stroking Rodney's feathers. They passed out of London quite quickly she thought and were soon speeding between hedgerows on what appeared to be a perfectly normal train track complete with tunnels, signal boxes and graffiti. "The ministry of magic had to use one hundred and sixty-seven memory charms…" Cat focused again on the girl next to her, she was talking at a hundred miles a minute. _How does she know all this stuff she said she was a muggleborn? I knew it I'm going to be so behind. Neville might not be very good but at least he knows all this stuff. _She looked at Neville who seemed enthralled by the lecture, or at Hermione's seemingly endless knowledge about the Hogwarts Express. Glancing around the compartment Cat noticed the tank which Neville had placed on the seat next to him and had originally held Trevor, the brown toad, was now conspicuously empty.

"Neville." Cat interrupted Hermione who was now moving topic to magical transport in general and was musing on the merits of portkeys as opposed to apparition, whatever those were. "Where's Trevor?" The boy panicked and immediately began rooting around on the floor crawling around until he reached the compartment door which everyone now realised was open a little over four inches or so. Hermione looked a little perturbed at being stopped mid-flow but the thought of a toad crawling around her with its slime and its webbed feet, and she was standing on the cushion looking around wildly before she realised what was happening.

"Oh no! I've lost him." Neville looked absolutely devastated at the loss of his pet, Cat looked at Hermione who looked embarrassed at being up on the seat. Cat if she was honest hoped they didn't find the amphibian but she liked Neville.

"Don't worry Neville we know he's on the train and he can't open doors so he must be on the carriage and probably just in the hallway," Cat said this, attempting to reassure Neville, as she stepped out and realised the problem. All the compartment doors were open with students, many already in their robes, milling around and talking to friends. _I bet you ten pounds, or galleons that Trevor has been squished._

"She's right you know Neville, we'll find him, Cat you go left and ask in the compartments, I'll go right. Neville you stay here and save our seats." Hermione issued instructions and bustled off down the carriage. Neville glanced at Cat and she just shrugged before doing as Hermione had told her. She stepped out of the carriage and walked down it carefully placing her feet, at any moment expecting a crunch or squelch as her feet touch the floor. A group of older students stopped talking and watched the small pretty blonde girl in the muggle clothing, stepping exaggeratedly carefully while peering at the floor and occasionally whispering '_Trevor'_. Fred and George Weasley and their friend and comrade in mischief Lee Jordan looked at each other as she passed before copying her, stepping and staring at the floor while whispering Trevor, louder and louder as she walked down the carriage. Other people watched as the Weasley twins copied the little first year's strange antics and began to laugh at the strange spectacle. With the amount of attention their mimicry received it wasn't long before Cat realised that people were laughing at her. Her cheeks burned and she whirled round to see three older boys all whirl round and copy her posture staring down the carriage in the way she was. The audience burst into laughter at the sight. The boys felt bad immediately when they turned to see Cat burst into tears and run, silently sobbing, past them down the carriage to her compartment. She raced into it and slammed the door before slipping down the door to bury her head in her hands in embarrassment and despair. She'd only just got here and already people were making fun of her, no one would want to be her friend now that she was the weird girl who talked to the carpet.

"What is that smell?" A high humorless drawl came from above her head. A shoe jabbed her harshly in the side as she sat slumped on the floor. She turned to see it and shuffle away from the black, leather. Her eyes trailed up the black pinstriped trouser to a set of robes cut like a suit to a sneering face. It was the blonde boy from the platform who had used magic. As she looked at him he smirked at her in a way which made her feel even smaller.

"Dirty blood, I suspect Dray." A girl to his left with dark hair and eyes and bored expression, "don't get to close you might catch something." She said before turning to Cat. "What are you waiting for get out. Your kind are not welcome here mudblood."

"Mudblood?" Cat stood shakily and stared at the occupants of the room.

"Muggleborn." The black boy from the train didn't look up from a magazine to answer her question. Two large boys, easily a head taller than Cat who was tall for her age, stood up and moved towards her menacingly, flanking the blonde boy.

"Get out mudblood, as I said your kind are not welcome, honestly it's a disgrace that they even let you people into the school." Frankly quite frightened by now Cat pulled the sliding door open behind her and practically ran out to escape the unfriendly words and hostile boys.

Cat walked down the carriage not seeing her compartment and began to seriously wonder what she'd let herself in for in coming here, the only students she'd met had either made fun of her or been scary. She hadn't actually stopped crying from the humiliation she had received in front of the entire carriage, and then those horrible people in the compartment she'd gone into by mistake. After wiping away the tears she glanced into each compartment until she spotted hers on the second trip down the corridor. She hadn't immediately noticed it because where they had left it empty it now had the two red-head boys and their friend the black boy with dread locks sitting talking to Neville. She looked longingly at her trunk and Rodney perched on Neville's knee but there was no way she was going to go back in there to be subjected to further humiliation, she was too emotionally exhausted already. _Why can't I find anyone who's nice? _

"Cat have you found it?" She turned to see Hermione looking at her quizzically, taking in her tear-stained face and lack of amphibian quarry. "What happened to you?" Cat angrily brushed the tears away from her eyes and grumbled out "nothing." She was damned if she was going to cry again in front of this superior girl who had already made her feel insecure and stupid this journey. She stalked past Hermione and into the nearest compartment with free seats. It was occupied already but she didn't care as she sat down in a huff. She hadn't even looked up to see whose privacy she had invaded before Hermione followed her into the cabin.

"Has anyone seen a toad, a boy named Neville's lost one, and my friend here has decided that she doesn't care if it's found or not." Hermione looked down her nose disdainfully at Catherine before turning to look at the two occupants of the compartment. A gangly boy with scruffy clothes and bright red hair was holding a wand aloft above a contentedly snacking rat. Across from him was a shorter boy with messy black hair, and large green eyes, magnified by a pair of glasses held together at the bridge by sticky tape. Hermione immediately forgot what she had come in for at the thought of a magical demonstration. Cat surreptitiously glanced up through the curtain of her hair and observed the trio. She recognised the redhead as the rude boy in Madame Malkin's shop in Diagon Alley. His name was Tod or John or Ron or something like that. He had a patch of dirt on his nose and his freckles were marching down what wasn't covered in the dirt and had invaded his cheeks and forehead. He was glancing at the dark-haired boy with a confused look. Ron found Hermione's forwardness in barging in and demanding to see magic, very unnerving, the blonde girl who was huddled over in the corner was an even stranger creature to the youngest Weasley male. She had run in apparently crying and all but hidden herself without saying anything since. He supposed there was some sort of comfort that you were supposed to follow when dealing with crying girls but couldn't think what to do before he and his new friend were interrupted by the precocious brunette at the door. Who did she think she was making demands of him to do magic which he had only wanted to show Harry Potter. He did however recite a scrap of doggerel while flicking his wand at Scabbers. Nothing happened as he had expected. It wouldn't be the first time his brothers told him a fake spell.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" Cat could hear the disdain in Hermione's voice and smiled to herself as the bossy girl began demonstrating some of the spells from their charms text-book.

"Holy cricket, you're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger, and you are?" Cat decided that Hermione was a poor actor, while she had not attempted to hide her excitement at meeting Harry Potter, whoever that was, she completely failed to hide her uninterested in making Ron's acquaintance. She stood abruptly and announced that they should change into their robes, She turned to Cat and in the same bossy tone asked: "Are you coming or not?"

Cat stood somewhat reluctantly, but she did have to get changed and going with Hermione did she have to admit, beat moping with two strangers. Cat was quite glad that Hermione didn't bring up the state she had found her in, or why she was so worked up. The pregnant silence in the compartment as they changed into their school uniform and robes was still awkward and neither girl really knew how to break it, If either girl had known what the other really thought of each other they would probably have been friends a lot sooner. Cat was lonely and terrified that her loneliness would only continue when they reached Hogwarts. The thought that the Weasley's mimicry of her was only a bit of fun teasing and wasn't mean maliciously never crossed her mind. She hadn't had an easy social life in school, apart from Simon, she'd had very few friends. Most people thought she was weird for some intangible quality. She'd found this incredibly frustrating as she couldn't think what to change to make people like her. Now Hermione was ignoring her and probably couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts to meet other people and make other friends. Cat sat down with a thump, angry that no one wanted to be her friend. Cat wasn't the only one dealing with insecurities. Hermione was watching her out of the corner of her eye thinking almost exactly the same things. She noticed that Cat hadn't listened to her when she was talking about the train and she chided herself for as usual running her mouth when she was nervous. Cat had clearly found her annoying and a know-it-all just like all the girls at her old school had. Hermione really wanted to be Cat's friend. She'd been really nice to Neville. She was confused by Cat being in tears when she found her after looking for the toad, Hermione didn't know what to do really. She hadn't cried a lot as a child, instead finding solace and self-soothing in other worlds contained in writing. Here and now confronted by someone she hoped to befriend she had no idea how to comfort her without seeming to forward and overstepping what she perceived were the parameters of their relationship. So it was that as the carriage which had slowed down, jolted to a stop at Hogsmeade station, the two girls and Neville who had returned (without Trevor) helped each other with their trunks and stepped out into the twilight. Cat followed the others as if in a daze, barely registering the slight tug on her arm, from Hermione leading her off with some other students away from the main crowd. The sound of Hagrid, failed to penetrate her all-consuming thoughts. She was too busy reviewing how she had made a fool of herself and ruined any chance of friends to take in the half-giant's instructions to the other first years and merely allowed herself to be led along in the crowd towards her future, A future which had only this morning seemed so bright and filled with promise, but now was tainted with the certainty that it would be a lonely future. Hermione felt rather than observed Cat's lethargy and guided the girl into a small boat, with a red-head with a round face, who introduced herself as Susan. Hermione nudged Cat as she failed to respond to Hagrid who was taking a register. Cat came back to reality somewhat after that and watched like the others in fascination as the boats drifted forward without visible propulsion and sailed in a v formation across the still dark waters. Like a flock of swallows through the night sky, the boats glided across the black lake, the reflection from each boat's lantern casting strange distorted reflections and shadows across the faces in the boats. Cat was so absorbed in observing the dancing shadows on her fellow passengers she didn't hear the gasps and exclamations from the front boats but when Hermione and Susan gasped next to her she looked up to see what had taken their breath away. The boats had rounded a small hill and there it was before them, lit against the mountains behind it, golden light pinpricked through hundreds of windows, its towers clipping the base of the moon. Cat saw her first glimpse of Hogwarts and she too, as every student had done before her in a thousand years, gasped.

**Ok here it is they're at Hogwarts, stay tuned for sorting, drama and a shadow on the horizon. Please review. Your servant Marmite and Jelly, over and out.**


	9. Chapter 9 The first Christmas

**Hi Guys sorry this one took a little longer, i'm in Italy at the moment and have less time to write. We're starting to see progress with this chapter. Stay tuned, on with the show.**

Chapter 9

_Hogwarts End of Term Report, Autumn Term for Catherine Edwards._

_First term exam scores._

_Astronomy E Charms O_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts E Herbology E_

_History of Magic A Transfiguration O_

_Potions A Flying O_

Head of House Report: Professor McGonagall Head of Gryffindor house.

_Catherine has had a somewhat difficult start to life at Hogwarts. I suspect contrary to expectation she has not I feel settled in as well as one would hope with her peers. She is certainly not without friends, however I do worry that she is resisting attempts to become close with her peers, as to why she would do this I am unable to ascertain. Other than some social difficulties, Catherine (or Cat as she insists everyone calls her,) has taken to magic like a duck to water. She is extremely naturally talented and easily picks up new spells with surprising ease. Her practical work in all her subjects is exemplary, her understanding of theory is perhaps a little way behind her practical aptitude but she is still certainly far ahead of the curve. At this point in the year I would suggest that she perhaps focus a little more on her written work as well as reading around the subjects to ensure she achieves the lofty heights of her potential in the end of year exams. I like to set my pupils a challenge in my reports, so for Catherine I would suggest an honest attempt to make close friends. She does not show it but I feel that Catherine is missing home quite keenly and having good friends would certainly help ease the pain of her separation. On a lighter note Cat has shown aptitude in a number of extra-curricular activities but most impressively she was one of only two first year students to be given permission to practise with their house teams. While she is not currently on the first team as there are no available spots in the starting line-up she does practise with the team and the captain informs me that she is an exceptional flyer and should the need arise could fulfil the roles of chaser or seeker admirably for Gryffindor. While it is unlikely that she will take a starting position until third year when one of the Gryffindor chasers graduates, it would probably be worth her while to purchase her own racing broom to practise with next year, and in the future there are a range of summer Quidditch camps which she should consider. To sum up Catherine has adapted reasonably well to her first term at Hogwarts, academically she is second in her year and displays astonishing natural flair for performing magic. Her Quidditch ability is an exceptional talent, but she needs to make more effort socially or I fear she may find Hogwarts to be quite a lonely experience._

Audrey handed the report to Jack across the dining table without looking at him. Instead she focused on the second envelope which Rodney had brought, this one with what she now recognised as her daughters handwriting (when using a quill at any rate). It was far less polished than the flowing elegant hand of her professor and there was the hint of an ink spot dotted across the page which had been hastily dabbed at.

Jack had watched his wife read the letter from Hogwarts first with a confused expression and then with what she clearly hoped was a calm expression. Jack was immediately gripped by worry what could the letter have said that Audrey would be worried about concerning him. He thought back to the letters they had received, every Friday morning like clockwork, from Catherine. He had noticed that the first seven or eight had been very long and full of excitement and wonder at Hogwarts and the things she was learning, then around Halloween they had become much shorter and more generic in their content. Instead of a long treatise on being graded down in potions for unknown reasons or complaining about being unable to decipher either the stutter or the shaky handwriting of her defense professor; her parents were treated to simple statements on what she had done that day and questions on how they were and whether they had heard from Simon. Now reading Cat's report, both Jack and Audrey couldn't help but worry that their daughter was keeping her feelings from her parents. Jack couldn't decide why she might be doing that if she was lonely as her teacher suspected. And why was she lonely? True she hadn't been exactly the most popular girl at her last school but she had had Simon and a few others who she was relatively close to. As Jack continued his musings with a cup of tea, Audrey wiped off the marmalade knife on her napkin and broke the wax seal on the envelope from her daughter and hoped for some answers.

_Dear Mum and Dad._

_I'll need to make this a quick one as I have agreed to help a friend in the library look up something. It's something of a long shot but have you ever heard of Nicolas Flamel? Hermione is a muggleborn like me and so it is possible that she heard it in the muggle world. She is however a voracious reader and asked me to help her search the books she has read this year for a reference to him. _

_In other news Oliver Wood, (I'm sure I mentioned the Quidditch captain) says that I need to buy a broom before next year so that I am not at such a disadvantage in practise, he also suggested that I join a summer Quidditch camp because he thinks I'll be really good if I practise. There aren't any in the London area the closest would probably be Wimbourne Wasps or Puddlemere United in Dorset or Tutshill Tornadoes in Chepstow near Wales…? Anyway that sounds like a lot of fun and apparently they're only a week-long so it wouldn't cut into our summer hols too much. _

_Ok right I've got to go. I can't wait to see you I can't believe there's only a week left of term, it feels like I only got here yesterday. See you soon. _

_Lots of love_

_Cat-herine. _

_Xxx_

"Hey Cat you ready?" Hermione walked over to where she was sat by a window in the common room.

"Almost, just sending a letter." She stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated melting the wax with her wand before sealing the envelope. "Here you go Rodney, to mum and dad. You might as well stay there until I arrive." Rodney hooted and nibbled her finger affectionately before swooping out of the window and rapidly reducing to a golden speck in the pale winter sky.

The two girls chatted nonchalantly as they descended the stairs and headed towards the library, both expertly hopping the trick step and ducking behind a tapestry to use a secret passage to avoid Peeves. Their conversation was light, talking about plans for the holidays and an essay for Transfiguration which was due tomorrow. Hermione and Catherine had looked to be becoming good friends in their first two months at Hogwarts, but they were both hampered by the notion that the other didn't particularly like them. Hermione had found friends in Harry and Ron after the much whispered about, but never confirmed, troll incident. Catherine on the other hand was friendly with practically everyone in the house. A lot of people really liked her, Neville thought she and Hermione were the nicest people in Gryffindor, as they were the only ones who either didn't make fun of him or tried to make him feel welcome. It didn't stop her feeling a pang of loneliness at times when she saw Hermione immediately go and sit down with Harry and Ron by the fire when they returned from a study session in the library. Cat felt like second place to Harry and Ron, while Hermione felt like Cat tolerated her rather than actually liked her. Despite being a good Quidditch player and practising as a reserve for the team, Cat hadn't had much contact with Harry, for one simple reason. She couldn't stand Ron, he was rude, lazy and had table manners which turned her stomach the one time she had sat with Hermione at meals. She knew something important must have happened at Halloween because Ron was still rude to them calling them Gryffindor's resident nerds or bookworms. Yet now instead of hating Ron, Hermione hung out with him. She suspected it had more to do with Harry but still.

The two girls arrived at the library for what they had agreed would be their final weekend search for Flamel, before the holiday. Cat still had no idea why Hermione was looking for a man named Flamel. She knew it had something to do with the three headed dog that was on the third floor-corridor. She had gone on many a wander before curfew exploring the castle and when returning late one night she had ducked into the door to avoid Filch, and then rapidly exited saving her life, while nearly killing Filch as she bowled into him. She lost her house twenty points and had a detention with Snape cleaning cauldrons for her trouble. Hermione had not specifically asked her to help but Cat who was Gryffindor's only other regular library-goer had worked out that Hermione was getting frustrated at not finding something and asked if she wanted any help. She didn't press Hermione over why she was looking for him other than that it wasn't Hermione's secret to tell. They stayed in the library for two hours before dinner but were no closer to finding him and Cat had almost reached the point of grabbing random books and scanning the index's for his name. Hermione slammed a heavy leather-bound book onto the table with a sharp exhalation, which startled Cat who had rested her chin on a book while scanning another's index.

"I can't believe we can't find him. What is the point of this library?" Cat chuckled a little at Hermione's comment.

"Now I know you don't mean that." She smirked at the bushy haired girl who pouted before smiling slightly and reached for another book, this one on alchemy. Cat stopped her hand and motioned to the cuckoo clock hanging above Madame Pince's counter. "It's nearly half six we should head to dinner now. Maybe we can spend another half hour before curfew."

"I can't I promised Ron and Harry I'd help them with McGonagall's essay after dinner.

Cat shrugged it off affecting an air of nonchalance. "Ok so do you want me to keep looking till the holiday or shall we give up?"

"I think I'll remember it at some point, I'm sure I've read it somewhere before."

* * *

"Right, now we've all been fed and watered, it's time for our two Christmas day traditions." Dumbledore merrily smiled at the four sitting around a table with him in his office. They all looked frankly quite ridiculous. Dumbledore was resplendent in silver starred robes until you noticed the flowered bonnet on his head. McGonagall looked somewhat less ridiculous in a silk top hat which she had transfigured to match the colour of her emerald robes. To her right professor sprout sported a multi-coloured jester's hat complete with little bells at the tips. The diminutive figure of Flitwick in dark blue robes and a sombrero, upon which a toy steam train went round and round, completed the rather strange picture. Snape was point-blank refusing to don the pink beret he won in his cracker.

"I shall start and then clockwise I think with Minerva next." Dumbledore waved his hand and four wrapped gifts floated across the table to their recipients. What followed were the customary exclamations of pleasure or surprise at the thoughtfulness or usefulness of the gifts. Dumbledore prided himself on what he considered a talent for choosing excellent presents. A pair of tickets to see the England vs France Quidditch match, for McGonagall, an exceedingly rare lily for professor sprout which would bloom only in the light of a harvest moon, a little muggle mechanical toy shaped like a bird which would drink water perpetually for Flitwick and a flask of powdered basilisk venom for Snape. He was least pleased with the gifts to Minerva and Severus as he thought they were too generic and while he knew Snape needed it for his research he felt it lacked the familiar touch he aimed for. His presents were of a mostly confectionary nature, which for a man with far too many books, hats and little desk ornaments was absolutely fine. After the last of the wrapping paper was vanished and the last thankyou said, Dumbledore cleared his throat and addressed them in the manner he always conducted his heads of house meetings. "So how's the year going so far? I've read the reports your sending home and it all looks fairly peachy…" The five senior teachers discussed exam results, predicted grades, the rising cost of OWL and NEWT exams, the Weasley twins' latest pranks long into the afternoon. The bell tolling in the clock tower announced it was almost time for dinner, not that anyone really had the room for it after Christmas lunch.

"A word please, Severus, McGonagall. I shan't detain you long from your refreshment." Dumbledore looked down his nose over his spectacles at his two most trusted lieutenants. "I was just wondering how are two, how shall I put them…special cases are doing."

"You mean Potter and Ri-Edwards?" Snape dispassionately stated. Dumbledore nodded his confirmation. "Edward's I do not know what to make of if I am honest, Potter on the other hand is just his father reborn, just as arrogant and troublesome with just as blatant disregard for the rules and safety of others."

Dumbledore noticed that McGongall's lips had thinned so as to be almost invisible and he guessed that beneath the surface a battle raged.

"Enough Severus, I do however wonder, if the boy is truly his father at his least mature, or perhaps young Harry is a completely different young man and deserves your unbiased consideration. Something to think about." He turned to look at McGonagall who looked somewhat more calm. _I do hope that she and Severus never come to wands over their disagreements, the results would not be pretty._ How are they settling in Minerva? I read your report for the Edwards family but there was no report for young Harry."

"Harry appears to be settling in fine despite," McGonagall fixed the headmaster with a steely gaze, "the suspected emotional abuse he has suffered since you placed him with the Dursley's. Lord above knows why…yes yes there are some blood bound protections, I know. As for miss Edward's I am actually slightly more worried. You attribute her father's character to isolation. I am worried that Catherine is not making friends easily and is quite a lonely child. I am not sure what it is exactly that stops her but she seems to drift from one person to the other as a welcome acquaintance but not a close friend."

"You fear that the feelings of rejection and isolation could…"

"I don't know what I think, she's not just his daughter. She's also Mr and Mrs Edwards's daughter but still it isn't good for a child to be so friendless. I had hoped she would become close to Miss Granger but she has attached herself to Potter and the youngest Weasley, once again leaving Catherine on the outside looking in. "

"Professor." Snape cut in. "Without sounding callous but, shouldn't we, for the time being at least…let these children try to sort out their own friendships, without us lowering ourselves to playing match maker between eleven and twelve-year olds?"

"Perhaps your right Severus, Merlin knows we do not have the time to do this for every student so why these two." Dumbledore sighed. "Very well then we shall let events pass as they may, for now. Minerva, Severus I trust you to keep an eye on these two. You know my thoughts, the boy who lived and the dark lord's daughter they could determine the fate of our world." He said gravely, Snape shivered as the shadow's seemed to lengthen in the flickering candlelight. "Thank-you and merry Christmas. I need to floo Nicholas and Perenelle, they wish to make some more elixir. Good evening." The light returned to normal as did the twinkle which had fled from Dumbledore's solemn blue eyes.

"Merry Christmas Professor."

* * *

"Wake up Cat"

_What dad? Five more minutes._

"Come on wake up Cat!" Someone began shaking her gently and rubbing her arm as she lay on her side.

"Come on Cat it's Christmas."

"Five more minute's dad." She mumbled snuggling into her pillow.

"OY! Wake up, it's Christmas and Harry is saying I can't open my presents until you are up!"

Cat jerked awake at the irritated shout of someone who was most definitely not her father. It all came flooding back and the slight smile which Harry noticed, graced her sleeping features, disappeared with a droop. She seemed to fold in upon herself as she curled up with her quilt and pillow on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room. Harry had overheard from McGonagall talking to Flitwick, that Cat would be staying after all. Harry had been happy to hear this as for one he quite liked Cat and thought she was fun and two there were so few people staying other than himself and the Weasley's it would be nice to have extra company for his first Christmas away from the Dursley's. He could see however that he was the only one who was happy about the change in arrangements and he felt a pang of envy that Cat had somewhere with people who loved her, that she was sad enough not to be going home to.

"Morning Edward's, what's up?" Harry sat down on the sofa and took his glasses off to polish the lenses, while squinting at the blonde girl next to him.

"Huh oh nothing?" Cat came out of her private world at his voice and attempted to force a smile.

"I thought you were going home anyway, instead of hanging around like you normally do." Harry and Cat both looked at Ron unsure of what he meant by that, but he was too busy inspecting a package to notice.

"No my uh" She glanced quickly at Harry and then continued. "My parents won a holiday for two, to Florence and they've always to go there so well they asked if I'd mind terribly spending Christmas at Hogwarts instead of going home." She said all of this with a fixed grin, and she honestly was trying to be happy about it. After all her parents had always talked about going off on a weekend getaway to Tuscany, but they'd never really had the money to do it and she wasn't sure what she was upset about, Hogwarts while a bit drafty in some of the corridors, was beautiful and at the moment was completely covered in a blanket of snow making the mountains shine in the sunlight, the frozen lake a pale blue expanse stretching to the horizon. It was breathtakingly beautiful if you took the time to see it. It was enough to make your heart ache and then she realised why her heart was aching. She missed her mum and dad. They were the closest people to her and she had looked forward to Christmas practically since she stepped off the train in September. And now they were going off without her, the three musketeers became two.

Harry didn't believe the face which said she was happy but the bright violet eyes which looked really sad and refused to meet his green ones. He decided not to press her as it was obvious where she really wanted to be.

"Come on sleepy, let's let Ron open his present's then go down for breakf... um lunch." Harry laughed looking at his watch and seeing it was almost eleven.

"Brunch then." Cat replied with a small smile and stood up revealing the same pair of jeans and woolly jumper she wore the day before. "Tell Ron he can start opening them I just want to go wash and change." Harry watched her retreating back as she skipped up the stairs.

"Hey mate you going to open yours?" Ron asked through a mouthful of chocolate frog. He had started as soon as he heard Cat's parting words and had already revealed a woolly jumper and a pack of sweets.

"I've got presents?" Harry asked, surprised that someone had sent him something.

"Take a look." Harry crouched down beside the tree and took a package from a small pile. It was quite large and squishy. He opened it to reveal a forest green cable nit jumper with a yellow 'H' with a packet of fudge. He realised that the jumper was hand knitted but was of slightly superior quality to the maroon one that Ron had just shrugged into. From Hermione he received a packet of Chocolate frogs, with a card saying that she thought about getting him a book, but decided he'd be tired of reading after looking for Flamel. He chuckled at that, and thought it was really quite thoughtful. He got a fifty p coin from the Dursley's which he gave to Ron. A wooden flute from Hagrid and most surprisingly a book from Cat, who was just walking down the stairs looking refreshed. "101 stupid Quidditch stunts to impress girls?" Harry looked at Cat with a confused expression as she sat down on the sofa next to him and reached for one of her own presents.

"I thought it might give you some ideas for the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff games." She replied without looking up from the pale violet hooded cloak that she had removed the tissue paper from a Malkin's box. It was beautiful and the satin was so soft, she knew it must have been really expensive and she hoped her mum had used the Gringotts' draft book from Tom Riddle's vault rather than her own money. The second package she picked up definitely felt more like a present from her dad. It was a new pair of football boots and a ball. They were black with three white stripes, red piping and red laces. She hadn't played football since the summer and she realised she missed it. Quidditch was fun but she didn't play in the matches and she rarely broke a sweat while actually flying. Wood's fitness training regimen was something else entirely but she knew without playing twice a week for school and her borough, she was getting lazy and unfit. Dean Thomas also mentioned missing football so she thought she might ask him for a kick around when term started.

After getting irritated first explaining again what football was to Ron and then trying to explain why people might want to play a sport which involves running around, Cat pointed out to Harry that he had missed his last present.

It was about the size of a rugby ball, but soft and yielded to the touch, Harry assumed it was clothes, probably more hand-me-downs of Dudley's. Instead it revealed a silvery almost watery material which upon closer inspection proved to be a cloak. It shimmered in the fire light and dim winter sun streaming through the tower windows. Cat thought it was the most beautiful fabric she had ever seen and it entranced her. "Put it on, Harry." She whispered without realising she said it or why the sudden compulsion to see it worn.

Harry looked at her, shrugged and swept it round and over himself.

**Dear Reader**

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**I could do with your comments to motivate me/criticism to refine my writing. Thankyou for your consideration.**

**Sincerely**

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	10. Chapter 10 Reflections

Chapter 10

"That is awesome."

"Wow"

"I'm invisible."

"I know what that is, that's an invisibility cloak. They're really rare, I wonder who gave it you." Ron scrambled over himself and nearly tripped in his discarded wrapping paper in his attempt to seize the packaging of the cloak. Cat continued to stare in wide-eyed awe at Harry's disembodied head as it floated round the common room. That Slytherin part of her brain which the sorting hat had whispered to her about was busy weighing the possibilities of such an item. Thoughts of the library restricted section or the third floor corridor teemed in her mind as Harry pulled on the hood of the cloak in front of the mirror and vanished.

The note was unsigned and despite some speculation as to the sender they decided to leave it be. It was too early for lunch and far too late for breakfast so the trio contented themselves with lounging in the common room for an hour or two snacking on their sweets and chatting amiably, although Ron still largely ignored Cat. The topic inevitably returned to reminiscence of past Christmas's spent with family. Harry did not speak of his own experiences and Cat remembered too late his living situation when she asked the boys what their favourite Christmas present was. Harry's quiet reply of he couldn't remember his only Christmas presents, made her flush with embarrassment and cast an awkward silence for a moment. Thankfully Ron broke it by telling them that two years ago he received a Chudley Cannons Quidditch jersey. Harry returned her question in a quiet voice. He was surprised when she jumped up and ran up into her dormitory. He and Ron exchanged a puzzled frown before she came bounding down the stone steps once more, blonde hair flying as she raced over to them. In her hands she held a violin and bow.

"Ta Dah." She smiled before repeating her exclamation on the strings.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Ron had slammed his hands over his ears as she bowed the strings. He stared with a look of utter bewilderment at the strange objects in her hand.

"It's a violin. Don't you have violins in the wizarding world?" She asked mirroring his puzzlement.

"What's it for?" he asked frowning and looking suspiciously at the object which produced the squeaky scratchy noise.

"It's for playing music. Listen." She again shouldered the violin and launched into the start of 'In the bleak midwinter.'

Harry had heard the song before from carol singers and thought it sounded quite beautiful, the clear pure notes seemed to swell and flow around them in the vaulted tower, conjuring images of snow-covered streets and families around nativity scenes.

"For Merlin's sake will you stop already!" Ron yelled over her playing, in her shock the bow slipped and produced a horrible discordant shriek from the instrument. "Thankyou, we get it already it's makes scary noises, now please stop torturing the cat that's trapped inside. Cat stared aghast at Ron for a moment and then dropped the violin, her most prized possession on the sofa and ran to the portrait opening.

"Ron that was really mean." Harry scowled at Ron, picked up the violin and ran after her. Cat ran fast streaming down her cheeks, ignoring Harry's calls, she took turns and secret passages in an attempt to shake off Harry, but years of Harry hunting by Dudley had made him fast and she was never quite able to lose him, until she ducked behind the tapestry of a white hart next to the door to the astronomy tower. After Harry had run past down the corridor still calling for her, she snuck out and went up the stairs to the observatory. She'd never been up here during the day. As she ascended the slippery steps to the only open tower, she regretted not getting a warm coat before she ran out of the common room. She was shivering and was ready to turn round and risk Ron and Harry's teasing when she came round the corner and beheld the view. The astronomy tower stood above the front doors of the castle and the view she beheld was breathtaking. Before her the mountains and the lake shone in the morning sunlight, a dazzling expanse of virgin snow covering the sloping lawns down to the lake and forest, it's normally dark trees now dusted with white, the lake normally a green or silver expanse now shone a pale blue as the ice reflected the sky. It was almost blinding and she forgot to blink until a small eddy of snow blew into her face. Forgetting the freezing temperatures she walked to the edge of the parapet and stared out at the beauty of Hogwarts under snow. Harry found her nearly ten minutes later, she turned to him and he saw that while her eyes were red she was no longer crying.

"I'm sorry about Ron; I thought your playing was nice."

"Feeling guilty Potter?" She sneered, an ice queen in the frozen landscape, tendrils of her hair shining silver in the harsh light floated out in the gentle breeze giving her an ethereal look, somewhat spoilt by the Arsenal football shirt.

"Yes," She raised an eyebrow. "Ron was really mean, your playing was really good, I don't know why he said that. I'd really like to hear more to be honest." He looked at her with such an open honest expression that she couldn't help but soften. Taking her slight change in demeanour as a good sign he offered her the violin and bow. "Do you know any more Christmas songs? The Dursley's didn't tend to listen to music."

She relented and carefully took the violin from Harry who smiled at her. She tentatively smiled in return and then looked back out over the parapet. "Go on. Please." He urged her stepping closer. The blonde girl before him raised her bow and began to quietly play Away in a Manger, the notes strengthened as she got into it and the clear sweet tones drifted out on the winter wind. As soon as she finished she began The Holly and the Ivy. Harry stood staring oblivious to the chill air, watching her play, her eye's closed and her fingers dancing over the strings. Her whole body swayed with the movement of the bow and melody. Her face was scrunched up in concentration her milky white skin now flushed from the wind, her eyes firmly closed with her mouth a compressed line. When she finished the silence seemed oppressive on the top of the tower.

"Beautiful." Harry whispered. His breath misting in the air with the words.

"Not bad but it-"

"Lacked refinement in our-"

"Opinion."

The two eleven year olds looked up to see a truly unexpected sight. Fred and George Weasley speaking in unison and finishing each other's sentences, were lounging, smirks affixed on a pair of broom sticks hovering a little way above the parapet.

"Ready Fred?"

"Ready George"

"Oppugno!" They both flicked their wands and five snow men hovering hundreds of feet in the air rose above the level of the parapet and detached their heads before throwing them at the pair of first years. Harry unsuccessfully attempted to dodge the freezing projectiles, skidding across the frozen stone. Cat dived beneath the crenulation as if a soldier in a besieged castle under fire. She thought she'd escaped until the final snowman floated over the parapet and dropped it's head directly on top of the unsuspecting girl.

"What the hell guys?" Harry was spitting snow out of his mouth and shivering, soaked from head to toe in his jeans and Weasley knit jumper.

"What do you reckon, George?" One of them turned to his brother. "Will they accept our challenge?"

"You know brother of mine, I'm not sure. Perhaps a second gauntlet should be thrown down." He grinned evilly at the two freezing first years."

"Oppug – "

"Run!" Harry yelled grabbing Cat's hand and pulling her towards the stairs. The headless snowmen chased them until they shut the door on them. They collapsed onto the floor behind the door after the snowmen stopped hammering on it. A laugh worked its way out from the depths of his chest, until he was roaring with mirth on the door next to Cat. _He's mad, wonderful I'm stuck in a castle all winter with no one but sour face, the crazy twins and Mr Mad over here._

"What's wrong with you, what's wrong with them?" She asked, he turned to see a look of bewilderment and anger on her flushed face. It just made him laugh harder, with snow melting in his hair dripping down his nose, and pooling on the flagstones. Cat next to him in her soaked red shirt and dark tendrils of her hair falling across her forehead and cheekbones as she similarly dripped.

"They wanted a snowball fight." He gasped out as she continued to stare at him. "Ron said they always have a snowball fight at Christmas. That's what they meant by a challenge."

He turned to see a serious frown mask her features. She was inspecting her violin and bow with a steely gaze. She stroked the fine horsehairs lovingly, plucking out a broken one. After several long moments in which Harry watched her quietly, she turned to look at her companion.

"They want a snowball fight? I'll give them a bloody snowball fight." Harry stared into the deep violet eyes which were ablaze with the light of cold fury as she said those words. Harry audibly gulped before replying.

"Yes ma'am."

They made their way back to the Gryffindor common room where they found Ron napping in front of the fire. A quick dousing with a water pitcher, brought him round and Harry explained the situation quickly. Then they began to devise a plan.

So it was that Ron found himself trudging, albeit warmly wrapped up in winter cloaks, through the frozen waste land outside the front gate of Hogwarts, waving in his hand a white flag, fashioned from a chalk board pointer and a school shirt. After a few moments he saw two figures come swooping down from above on their brooms wands at the ready.

"Parlay" Ron's voice was muffled by two scarfs.

"Pardon?" both twins asked.

"I said, Parlay, it means to talk terms," said Ron, desperately trying to remember his lines.

"Terms?" Came the reply in unison.

"Half an hour, only snow projectiles, no going crying to McGonagall when we kick your asses." Said Ron who had removed the scarf from his face. "Oh and you can't touch me until I put down this flag."

"Who's we?" Fred and George both asked.

"Me, Harry and Cat."

"When are you going to drop the flag?"

"On 3, 1…2…3!" He yelled the final number and dropped to the ground as a barrage of a hundred and thirteen snowballs struck the twins from behind Ron. Cat suddenly appeared as if from nowhere and ran off to the side while the twins recovering from the unexpected broadside, gave chase on foot forgetting their brooms.

Ron grabbed one and ascended a few meters where he was met by Harry. He tossed Ron a large sack which contained a large pile of snowballs. They tracked the rapidly retreating figures of Fred and George who were following Cat out onto the lake. Cat flicked her wand as she reached the shore, transfiguring her boots into ice-skates, another wave and a sack materialised in her left hand. She poked her wand into the neck of the sack and flicked it at the twins who were gingerly making their way towards across the ice.

"Volito Repetere", she yelled and snowballs began flying from her bag as she skated round the twins. She rapidly ran out within a few seconds as they flew thick and fast smacking with unerring accuracy into the twins. As she ran out and they managed to regain their footing resembling living snow men, Ron and Harry swooped down on their brooms and began throwing snowballs at the twins. The twins chose to retreat to the lake shore and gather snow to fight back. Directing it with their wands they sent it flying much as Cat had at their brother and Harry. Cat snuck behind them and began gathering snow into a huge ball with a wave of her wand when it was over ten feet tall, she sent it hurtling at the twins who were hiding behind a tree. It crashed into them and as she directed kept on rolling up hill. First up the path and then up the steps and through the front doors of Hogwarts, the three first years followed the giant boulder which had grown larger as it gathered snow from the hill on its way. They dashed into the entrance hall and found a hilarious sight. The twins and three members of staff were struggling under an enormous pile of snow. Upon realising who the members of staff were however, the three ceased their laughter and ran for it as first, Professor Quirrell's unmistakable turban, followed by Snape and Filch struggled free of the snow.

They ran practically wetting themselves with laughter all the way to the common room.

"Nice one Edward's" Said Ron, giving her a thumbs up before going to his dorm to change out of his wet clothes before lunch.

"That was brilliant." Harry grinned at her while pulling his jumper off. He gave her a quick hug, before following Ron up the stairs.

Cat found herself blushing slightly and caught herself grinning in the mirror as she went up her own staircase. That was until she saw the sticker on her back saying hug me I'm lonely. No doubt put their by the Weasley twins. Still that was fun.

* * *

The Christmas feast was fantastic, she sat between Harry and Professor McGonagall around a single round table in the middle of the Great Hall, there were only a handful of students and around half the faculty so it no doubt seemed silly to use the house tables. As it was she spent the meal talking to Harry and her head of house while glancing across the table at Professor Snape who was alternating glaring at the Weasley twins and Harry. The food was delicious but she decided not to go for the Turkey instead taking some slices of duck. While she would admit she was having fun she didn't want to forget that Christmas was a family tradition. They always had turkey at Christmas. Her dad had a small love affair with it every year, going to the farmers market and choosing the one he wanted while it was still walking around minding its own turkey business. Then he would take it to his favourite butcher, and then he would read endless recipe books on how to cook the giant bird and what to do with the nine-tenths of the bird which didn't get eaten on Christmas day. Eating turkey at Hogwarts would be like pretending that she was at home for Christmas when she was actually at school with people who were tolerating her for want of better company. Rather than with her family who loved her unconditionally. Alright Harry was being nice to her, like he always was when she thought about it, but as soon as Hermione was back when term started he would stop being her friend and she would go back to being Cat, you know the blonde first year Gryffindor, not Cat Harry Potter's friend.

Harry wondered why Cat seemed so downhearted all of a sudden and pressed her to pull a cracker with him. He won and pocketed the little gobstones set, but insisted she wear the hat which was a bearskin "like the ones the Buckingham palace guards wear." She said looking at it sceptically. Soon however everyone around the table was wearing a silly hat (except for Snape and Quirrell).

After the feast ended and Harry, Ron and Cat wandered, or perhaps waddled out of the hall and to their common room, they lounged around the fire and Cat decided to bring up something that she knew she probably shouldn't.

"So why are you guys looking for Nicolas Flamel?" She affected a casual manner while fiddling with a loose thread on her sleeve, while in reality she was peering from underneath her eyelashes at the two boys who had stiffened at her question and were now casting worried looks at each other and her.

"Who?" asked Ron after a lengthy pause. He seemed quite impressed with his cleverness at that and Cat could not help but roll her eyes.

"Did Hermione tell you?" Harry asked looking intently at her. Cat shrank away a little under his penetrating stare.

"Yeah, I've been helping her." Cat admitted.

"Look Cat, I'm sorry she got you involved but we can't tell you. People's jobs could be at stake if any more people know about this." He gave her a serious look but Cat wasn't ready to give up just yet.

"Does this have to do with the three-headed dog on the third floor corridor?"

The stunned silence which followed her question was finally broken by Ron attempting his original ploy of "What three-headed dog."

Cat huffed before standing up and ascending to her dormitory. Turning back to the boys she said "Well Hermione and I have looked in just about every book in the library so unless he's in the restricted section I don't think we're going to find him. She looked pointedly at Harry who was staring into the fire as she said those words and then went up to bed. He watched her disappear out of the corner of his eye and pondered her words. He also wondered whether he should trust her with their secret. Ron also watched her leave and let out a great sigh when he thought she was out of ear shot.

"Thank Merlin. I thought we'd never get rid of her. Hey Harry why don't we use the cloak to sneak down to Hogsmeade. Charlie told me about this sweet shop, called Honeydukes…

Ron's voice faded as Cat climbed the stairs. It had been nice to hang out with Harry and Ron today, pretending to have friends. She had genuinely enjoyed spending time with them, particularly Harry who seemed genuinely nice. The problem was Ron who seemed to be absent a single emphatic bone in his entire body. He was rude, ill-mannered, self-conscious and she thought he was also jealous. Jealous of Harry in fact. While she would be the first to admit that the invisibility cloak was a very cool possession, and it was nice that he had got permission to own the fastest racing broom in the world. He also had to wake up every morning with no family. Ron she had learned had a large and successful family. Neither she nor Ron would ever know the emptiness of a life without the unconditional love of their families. Cat felt really sorry for Harry, and was so embarrassed when she realised that Harry had never known the kind of familial affection like receiving a Christmas present. How could Ron be so insensitive as to feel jealous of the first Christmas present he had ever received? How could he be that callous? Why on earth would Harry willingly be his friend? '_Why can't I be his friend?' w_as the thought circling around in her head as she drifted off to sleep. Like a shark around a mariner on a raft the loneliness circled her mind as she closed the drapes around her bed and wished that poor boy was her friend. "Merry Christmas" She whispered before closing her eyes.

* * *

She was stood atop of a great height looking down on a great expanse of nothing. As she watched the darkness resolved itself into a great flat plain of brown as a pale sun rose to her right. The rays touched the ground and everywhere she looked the surface teemed with people. Small as ants they surged and shattered like waves on a sea-shore. A great battle was taking place with thousands of combatants locked in deathly struggle. Flashes of green and red-spotted the surface. She leaned forward to gaze at an area where giant figures charged into a mass of smaller ones. As she stared the sound finally reached, roaring and scream, shrieking and explosions, rose from the plain up to the height from which she stood. From out of the sky more figures descended of different shape and size varying from figures the size of a person to enormous creatures as large as hills. A great booming rocked her vision and she turned to the darkness to her left, as yet untouched by the light of dawn.

Boom, Boom, Boom. She could not see what caused the terrifying cacophony, but it invoked even greater terror in her heart than even the screams of the wounded and dying below her. Boom, Boom, Boom. The sound struck her like a hammer blow, robbing her breath and casting her down from her high perch. Down she fell in a hurricane of sound and swirling light. The world rotated and rose to meet her. Figures dancing and rushing, light, clashing with shining steel. Giant and tiny figures, rising towards her. Faster and faster, down and down, the great flat expanse of the earth in all its solid magnitude, rushing up to meet her as she fell. Every bone and cell in her body screamed for air. Every bone and blood vessel sent messages to her brain that they were mortal and fragile. He tiny, soft form hurtling towards the solid, hard ground at incalculable speed. It was coming towards her and she scrunched her eyes tight as if that would defy her certain end. If she could not see her death then it might not happen. Here it comes, three. I don't want to die. Two. Oh god. One.

Smack.

Tap, tap, tap. Cat looked up from the cold flagstones she was pressed against. Wrapped in the hangings of her bed she lay on the floor beside her bed. She breathed in ragged gasps and hiccups. Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes in relief. She was not dead. She wasn't falling from a mile up. She had only fallen out of bed. It was just a dream. A weird, realistic dream. Tap, tap, tap.

She raised her head higher to see Hedwig rattling the window to the girls dormitory. It took Cat a few moments to extricate herself from the curtain and shuffle, heart pounding and still breathing heavily she opened the latch to the window and allowed Hedwig to alight upon her arm.

"Hey Hedwig, what's that?" She whispered, her voice rough like sandpaper, she didn't realise she must have screamed. Thank goodness there was no one else in the girl's side of the tower. Hedwig nipped her finger as she reached for the letter clasped in her beak. She grabbed an owl treat from Rodney's empty cage before unfolding the single piece of parchment. It simply said:

_Cat meet me in the common room. There's something you've got to see. _

_Harry_

"What on earth does he want?" Cat grumbled to herself while kneeling and searching for her second slipper under the bed. Eventually she made it, dressed in her gown and both slippers to the common room. At first she thought it was a prank, but then the otherwise empty room was inhabited by Harry also in pyjamas removing the invisibility cloak. In a whisper he told her how he had gone to the library to look in the restricted section, but the book was alarmed. Dodging Filch and Snape he told her he had found something in an abandoned class room that he wanted her to see.

"Has Ron seen it?" She asked looking completely nonplussed. Harry admitted that he had attempted to wake Ron but he was too deeply asleep, but he needed someone else to see it. Harry did not admit but Cat guessed that he wasn't sure he hadn't dreamt up the experience. She was even less sure about it when he told her to get under the cloak with him but she didn't want to get caught by Filch and get loads of detentions. The portrait of the fat lady, swung open but continued to snore, oblivious of nobody leaving the open portal. Harry retraced his steps to the fourth floor and led her silently with only a limited amount of bumping into each other and stepping on each other's feet, to the correct class room. On his fourth attempt he found the right one and led her inside. By this point much to each other's embarrassment, they resolved to walk with one hand around the others waist so as to stay covered but without constantly getting in each other's way under the cloak.

"_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_" Cat whispered reading the strange words along the ornate frame of a large mirror. Spotted with age the glass was canted slightly away from where they stood so she could not see her reflection. Harry immediately removed the cloak and ran to stand in front of the mirror.

"Come and see." He beckoned to her to come and stand next to him. When she was too slow to respond he ran forward and grabbed her hand pulling her out from under the cloak and taking her over to the mirror. "Can you see them?" Harry turned to look at her his face shining. She stared into the mirror in confusion.

"Can I see what?" She looked at their reflections in the old glass. But they were off she realised. Instead of gazing with serious expressions, she and Harry were smiling at her, the ghost of a laugh at a recent joke. Instead of her hand in his, their fingers were interlaced and swinging gently. She looked at herself and Harry and then back to the mirror in confusion. Then she noticed a third figure who she realised had been there at first but she had not noticed. Hermione in all her bushy haired glory had an arm round Cat's shoulder on her other side and smiled as well. They all wore the same easy smiles as if recovering from a hilarious laugh. Easy, contented. Friends. Cat's heart ached at the sight. Cat finally tore her gaze away from the scene after several long moments.

"What do you see in the mirror Harry?"

"Lots of people." He turned back to the mirror and spoke as if in a dream, "There's a woman with red hair and a man who looks a bit like me. They're smiling and waving. I think they're my parents. What do you see?" He did not stop looking into the mirror but tightened his grip on her hand to the point where it almost hurt.

"I see you, me and Hermione. Just smiling, having fun." She said turning to look at Harry. "Friends."

**I had fun writing this. I hope it shows. It's a bit longer than normal I think. Do you guys prefer longer chapters? I read somewhere that 3000 was the optimal length but that always feels too small to me. Review and let me know your thoughts on that and how the story is going. As usual I still don't own any of the myriad of copyrights I abuse in every paragraph. Enjoy.**


	11. Chapter 11 Snape and Quirrell

**I don't own anything you recognize. I'm a hooligan who plays with things that don't belong to me. **

Chapter 11

Harry didn't take her to see the mirror again and she didn't go looking for it. Cat assumed he had taken Ron but did not ask what he had seen. The remaining days were pleasant and they lived as if in a little golden bubble, of cocoa by the fire in the common room, or snowball fights in the grounds. At Harry's and later McGonagall's insistence she played carols in the common room. Each one met with raucous applause by the twins. She accepted their praise and the conjured flowers thrown at her with a jaunty bow. McGonagall watched carefully, and was encouraged by the relaxed companionship between Harry and Cat.

But their little bubble was not to last, and as Cat predicted it was burst by a steaming scarlet locomotive, when it pulled into the Christmas card village station. Soon the snow which had resembled delicate icing sugar was now churned to slush by hundreds of shivering and chattering children lugging trunks out onto the platform and rushing to the horseless carriages. Cat awoke that morning to find the common room empty, Harry and Ron gone down to the platform to greet their friends. Tearing down the stairs a smile on her face Cat was greeted by the silence and emptiness of the room. It would not stay empty as term resumed and lessons began, and Harry was quick to greet her, and would chat in their Quidditch sessions, but she missed the time they spent together as friends and not mere acquaintances. She prepared to throw herself back into the search for Flamel with Hermione, but within a few days she abruptly stopped and could not be drawn on the subject. Their companionship in the quest was broken and with its loss so too her escape from the melancholy which threatened her.

A letter from her parents, returned at last from Italy did little to brighten her rapidly tumbling spirits, instead she was struck by another sharp pang as she realised how much she had missed them at Christmas and it would be June before she next saw them. She couldn't find it in her heart to blame her parents who had deserved the trip, nor could she blame Harry or Hermione for not spending time with her, they had their own friends and it would be selfish she thought to try to monopolize their company. Hermione still studied with her in the library and Harry spoke to her more than ever in Quidditch, even if he mainly discussed manoeuvres and seeker techniques if she had to replace him in a game.

The weeks flew past for everyone else but to Cat they seemed to grind along at a snail's pace. Each day a secession of magic she found too easy to find interesting, followed by idle gossipy small talk with Lavender and Parvati at meals. She found it strangely fascinating the way those two could have the same conversation day in day out. The characters in their little soap operas may change but the plot lines stayed resolutely the same. It was so boring. Flying used to take her mind off it the doldrums, but she was only allowed during Quidditch practise and as a reserve other than drills, it was mostly listening to Wood lecture at the team on and on. Repeating again and again the same slightly meaningless spiel he had the first time. Cat desperately sought something to relieve the boredom, other than drifting round the common room exchanging a word or two with the established groups before moving on to someone else. It was a wet Wednesday in early February when McGonagall asked her to stay behind after Transfiguration. It was the last lesson of the day and Cat had nothing to look forward to other than regurgitating their charms textbook as she had realised that was all that was required to get an O in an essay.

"Miss Edward's, do you know why I wanted to speak with you?" McGonagall had walked behind her large mahogany desk and was now fixing the blonde girl in her steely gaze. She racked her brain desperately for some missed piece of homework or library book which she'd failed to return. Hesitantly and without meeting her head of house's eye she shook her head.

"No professor." She said without taking her eyes from the carved lion paws at the base of the desk. She failed to see McGonagall's raised eyebrow at her timidity.

"Miss Edward's." She said more forcefully attempting to catch the eleven year olds eyes. "I have had a wee discussion with Professor Snape about your progress since your report." Cat looked up at her in confusion. "He has said and I quote: 'Miss Edward's is lazy, slapdash in her work and offers the bare minimum in terms of class and home work. She never offers answers to question unless specifically asked.'"

McGonagall removed the pair of wire framed spectacles from her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, a tension headache loomed whenever she had anything to do with the head of Slytherin.

"Catherine. I am spotting a recurring theme in your report. Your essay scores are second in class, you are certainly the fastest to grasp a new spell in class as I have seen and professor Flitwick assures me. Defense against the dark arts is producing a lot of anomalous results this year, but in all practical areas your results are passable at best and are pulling you down from the O's we know you are capable of to E's. Now it is in potions which you're practical work is at its lowest, I've had Neville Longbottom take tutoring from an older student which he appears to be responding well to. However, quite shockingly, Professor Snape has suggested that he would be willing to tutor you one night a week between now and the exams. He initially suggested I have it take the form of a detention but I do not think that will be necessary. Hmm?" Cat hurriedly shook her head. "Excellent you will go to his class room at seven-thirty. Do not be late miss Edward's. You may go."

Cat ate her dinner with mounting dread at the thought of spending more time doing potions with Snape. It wasn't that she was bad at potions, in fact other than Hermione she suspected she understood the theory involved better than anyone else in the class. The problem was she just felt too lethargic in that hot fume filled room. It was just so much easier to cut her ingredients however was easiest and stir the cauldron so the contents didn't stick to the bottom. The instructions, written in Snape's small spidery hand on the board, were so far away from where she sat in the back that it was far too much effort to decipher them for every step. She knew that apart from Neville she had the worst marks for her actual potions. She hadn't in fact brewed a successful one since the first lesson when she had sat at the front and had Snape breathing down her neck the whole time.

At seven twenty she left the common room and went to grab her potion kit. Hermione quickly asked her where she was going as it was only forty minutes till curfew and she took the House cup seriously. Cat told her that she had detention with Snape. Hermione bit her lip and looked worried.

"What is it?"

"Well…Just be careful ok." Hermione looked agitated and covered a large book which Cat recognised as a large treatise on alchemy that she had left on her bed side table over Christmas.

"Why?"

"Look," Hermione whispered glancing around. "You remember when Harry's broom started acting weirdly, in the match against Slytherin? Well it was Snape. He was jinxing it, we think he was trying to kill Harry so just be careful."

Cat couldn't get anything else out of her on the subject and she was running out of time so she left and hurried down the seven flights of stairs to the entrance hall before turning down towards the dungeons.

She checked her watch's glowing hands and cursed seeing it show seven-thirty-two. She quietly knocked on the door and peeped her head round the door. Snape had his back to her and was laying things out on the workbench at the front. "Are you going to stand their gawking Edwards or are you going to come in?" He turned and gave her a cold calculating stare. She hurried to obey and put her bags where he directed. "You've wasted enough time getting here so we shall use this cauldron, please don't waste anymore getting your own out." He implored her with a sarcastic wringing of hands and exasperated expression. "Come here and chop up these poppy heads as I show you." Cat reluctantly stepped to his side and watched his silver knife top and tail the stems with precise quick movements. "Thirteen yellow poppy stems three inches long. Go" Snape ordered pointing to the relevant line of instructions in the potion book. Cat glanced to the top of the page and read the potion heading. '_Chelidonium Miniscula, in small doses a mild sedative, larger dose may cause, vomiting, skin blistering, purple pustules, internal haemorrhaging and or death.'_

"Lovely" Cat muttered as she began to cut the stems as he'd instructed. She worked in silence following the instructions as he gave them. She attempted to close herself off in the task and ignore Snape's snide comments on her potion making proficiency or lack of. It was gone nine when Snape ladelled a vial of the bubbling yellow liquid. He held it up to a candle inspecting the clear liquid before placing it in a rack and swiftly vanishing the cauldron's contents.

"Well Edwards now I really do have cause to give you detention." Snape sneered at her. _What now? I followed every one of his instructions to the letter. _"Clearly you are capable of following basic instructions therefore you have not been working to your potential in class. I must surmise that you are either lazy or lack the respect that I demand for my subject." He cleared away the ingredients as he spoke. "Your disrespect or idleness deserves punishment and correction do they not?" Cat didn't meet his eye or give any acknowledgement. Snape raised his eyebrow at her coolness. "Clearly the problem lies in your attitude; we shall continue your detentions Monday and Friday evenings at seven thirty in here. You are dismissed."

* * *

Cat was exhausted. She was almost leaning on Harry as the pair trudged back up the stairs to the seventh floor corridor. "You know how wizards can do magic right?" Cat grabbed at the bannister as they stopped for a quick breather.

"Yeah? That's kind of the point." Harry smirked while rubbing the condensation off his glasses. The pair were practically steaming in their sodden Quidditch robes as they made the long journey back from the Quidditch pitch and a long roundabout route back to Gryffindor tower, as it seemed every staircase in the castle was pointed in the wrong direction.

"You'd think that they could have put a lift in." He laughed at the idea of it. A magical castle with something as mundane as an elevator. "Seriously what if they had a disabled student in a wheel chair? How are you supposed to jump the trick step or go round the spiral stair cases in the towers on a wheel chair?"

She kept on about it all the way to the fat lady. Harry couldn't decide whether she was serious about the disability thing, or if she was just grouchy about two hours of Quidditch practise in the pelting rain followed by a long walk across the grounds and through the castle. What he didn't realise was that it was actually a clever gambit on her part. They'd had some bad news in Quidditch practise from Wood. Snape was refereeing their next match against Hufflepuff and now the pressure was all on Harry to win the match for them before Snape could take it away from them by favouring the badgers. Cat had seen how worried and tired he'd looked and had desperately grasped at a distraction to lighten his spirits. Her hard work at distracting him was wrecked by the walking insensitivity that is Ron Weasley. Ignoring their mud spattered robes, their drenched hair and drooping shoulders, the 'turbulent ginger' as Cat had taken to calling him behind his back, immediately asked how Gryffindor intended to 'crush the puffs?'

Harry immediately slumped and told his two friends about the sinister developments for the next Quidditch match. Cat perched on the sofa next to Hermione and ignored their exclamations and advice.

"Don't play!" Hermione paled. Cat raised an eyebrow, surprised that Hermione bought into this foolishness that Snape was trying to kill Harry. She tuned out of Ron's suggestion to break his leg and focused instead on the Dunkirk action off the board that Hermione's pieces seemed to be attempting faced with the onslaught and seemingly insurmountable positions from Ron's pieces. He was setting it up for a push for checkmate, and Hermione was just manoeuvring trying to avoid losing pieces. But he wasn't ready. His attack wasn't that subtle and clearly he intended to kingside-castle which would leave his queen free to go straight for checkmate. Cat leaned back if Hermione didn't stop it checkmate was three moves away. But that was still two moves to mess with him. Hrmn if she could force the king to move to avoid a check, thus cancelling its ability to castle, the queen couldn't be unleashed and Ron would leave his king exposed on the right of the board while all its defences were too far advanced to support it. She wrote three moves onto a scrap of parchment with the tip of her wand and slipped it into Hermione's hand as she stood up to go have a shower. She heard Hermione's whoop of triumph and Ron's accusations of cheating as she ascended the steps and let a smile split her features. So there Ron Weasley!

* * *

She swooped down from the subs bench as fast as she could fly. The wind tearing her blonde hair from its loose knot and sending it streaming with her scarlet robes. She pulled up just before the ground and tackled Harry in a gleeful tug. That was amazing, the fastest catch Hogwarts had ever seen. They had won, Harry had caught the snitch, they had won, he was amazing. As the team jumped and hugged and hoisted him on their shoulders these thoughts span in her head relentlessly filling her and every student with a lion on their chest with euphoria and pride at their association with the small messy haired boy holding the little golden ball aloft. She saw Dumbledore clapping sedately and in a dignified manner, until he caught her eye and winked. McGonagall was doing a far worse job of concealing her excitement clapping enthusiastically and shooting smug glances to Snape on his broom. She didn't see Ron or Neville but then she didn't see much for a few seconds when a blur of brown, careened into her much as she had Harry moments before. "We did it!" Hermione yelled. She surprised Cat with her excitement, the brown haired girl usually seemed uninterested in Quidditch, but then Harry's death-defying stunts had got them all a little bit worked up. Hermione showed this by hugging Cat who was nearest and then as soon as Harry's feet touched the ground again enveloping him in a rib crusher of his own. Ron joined them soon after, blood dripping down his face from a nosebleed. In the excitement she failed to find out who she needed to send the thank you card to for his injury. Harry was swept up and away to the castle in victory with the rest of the team. Cat was about to follow but then remembered the twenty year old Comet broomstick in her hand. Sighing she trudged across the damp grass towards the entrance to the stands broom cupboard. It had rained heavily this morning, and Wood had been worried about Harry's chances of an early snitch capture in such poor conditions. But the mist and drizzle had cleared by lunchtime and now there was barely a cloud in the sky. Cat smiled wryly while contemplating how unusual this weather was for Scotland or Britain at all for that matter. Odds were it would be weeks before they got such good flying weather again. Warm and clear with a few purple streaks on the horizon as the sun began dip towards the purple heather covered mountains. She turned to look at the castle, the hundreds of windows flashed golden in the early evening sun. It's great limestone walls and grey slates contrasting with the dark green and purple of the Scottish mountains behind. As she turned the panorama took in the lake. It was called the black lake, but Cat thought it was stupid as it never actually was black. It was either a steely silver or a dark green. Today instead it flashed golden like the windows behind it. She squinted and decided she must have fallen into one of the Manet paintings her mother loved so much, dark purple sky, orange water and purple mountains. It was all beautiful and all wrong. The forest at least was still green. Too intent on watching a giant flock of birds wheeling and dancing through the air like a shoal of sardines in the sea; she notice Harry's approach until he was right behind her.

"Hey Cat, you ok?" He pulled the door to the shed open, causing her to jump as her hand had been resting on the handle when she'd become entranced with the colours of the sunset.

"Oh yeah…fine thanks. Just admiring the scenery." She laughed nervously. _Yeah because normal people stand still thinking that lakes shouldn't be golden and hills shouldn't be purple. _"So you're still alive then. No creepy potion masters trying to kill you?"

"Not today, Ron thinks it was over too fast for Snape to make it look like an accident, I agree with Hermione though. She says that Snape wouldn't do anything to me with Dumbledore watching." Harry reached for a set of brushes and broom polish off the shelf above the broom racks and plopped himself down on the bench by the door of the shed. Cat continued to lean on her broom and gaze out into the distance unseeing consumed in her thoughts.

"Or perhaps more likely, he's not trying to kill you and Dumbledore asked him to referee to stop your broom being jinxed again."

"Maybe." Harry said with a noncommittal shrug while buffing his nimbus with a cloth. He loved his broom she knew, but she thought he was perhaps a tad overzealous when it came to its maintenance. After all would it really hurt its performance if there were a few fingerprints on the handle? "Talking of Snape; look who's coming this way." Harry pointed at a bat like figure taking long strides across the lawns. It was clearly Snape despite attempts to disguise his identity with a hooded cloak. "I wonder what he's doing in the forbidden forest." Cat had no answer for him but assumed he was probably going to look for some rare potions ingredient. Before she could even think of attempting to stop him, he'd mounted his Nimbus and was off towards the shadowy trees. _What is he doing? It's forbidden that includes the sky above it I bet in McGonagall's eyes. _Despite her misgivings Cat grabbed a school broom and gave chase. She focused on the spec of red ahead of her, swooping and darting above the tree tops. Harry begun to circle lower and lower as Cat pulled up to him. He was clearly searching intently for Snape and flapped his hand at her agitatedly to be quiet when she attempted to question him. Suddenly Cat caught the sound of voices. She turned her broom and flew towards a towering beech tree and alighted as quietly as possible in a branch. Harry alighted next to her and peered through the gaps in the leaves. They were both surprised at Snape's choice of company in the small clearing. Snape was stood in the centre of the clearing his hood down now and his black cloak pooling on the ground around him. Another figure picked his way through the dense undergrowth of ivy and ferns in between the tall trees. _Professor Quirrell? _Cat wondered why Snape was meeting the timid defence teacher in the forest. A glance to Harry's wide eyed stare told her there was more to this.

"… d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…" Quirrell tripped but righted himself and smiled weakly at the dark figure in the centre.

"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after all." Harry leaned forward and Cat was worried he'd fall off the branch. Quirrell was mumbling something inaudible to the two eavesdroppers. Snape interrupted him. "Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?" Harry gasped quietly and Cat stared first at Harry and then at the two figures in the shade of the trees. _Snape and Quirrell are trying to get what ever the Cerberus is guarding and Harry knows. Oh I bet that's what Hermione was researching Flamel for. He must have something to do with this philanthropist's stone thingy._

"B-b-but Severus, I —"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step toward him.

"I-I don't know what you—"

"You know perfectly well what I mean." An owl hooted loudly, and Harry nearly fell out of the tree. Cat grabbed his robe and held him steady. She was terrified of being discovered now. She steadied him in time to hear Snape say, "— your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't —"

"Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

After the two figures had parted taking separate routes back to the castle, Cat turned to Harry who was sitting thinking deeply. "You should have told someone Harry. I'm sorry I didn't believe you about him. Perhaps Snape is actually a villain."

**Couple more chapters for first year. **

**Thanks for the reviews. Moonstone 244 feel free to send me a message with tips for grammar and sentence structure. I could really use the advice not having done a great deal of writing before.**


	12. Chapter 12 The Stone and Chains

**As I'm sure you're all aware by now Harry Potter and all affiliated characters and trademarks are the property of J.K, her publishers and Warner Brothers. And now for the conclusion of first year, but the adventure is only just beginning.**

Chapter 12

"How did you think you did? I think I definitely got question fourteen B wrong on the charms paper. I put 'a counter clockwise twist and jab' for a stirring charm. I should have put 'point wand and twist counter clockwise and jab.' Other than that I think charms was ok. Frankly I'm more worried about potions. Snape was making me so nervous I think I forgot to add the Valerian sprigs to the forgetfulness potion."

"Badumbum"

"Tish!" Fred and George leapt over the sofa and sat themselves on either side of Hermione.

"Ever the comedian, Hermione you…"

"Have me in stitches, you should really…"

"Take this stuff on the road."

Kat zoned out of the twins and leaned back into the plush cushions of her armchair and stared into the fireplace. Most of her class mates were ranged around the common room in various states of relaxation. The exams were over and everywhere she looked the facial expressions were either ones of fatigue or jubilation. Harry was dozing in the chair opposite, while Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean were playing exploding snap loudly in a corner. Kat, unlike most of the Gryffindors other than Hermione, was worried. Hermione was still agonizing over her exams even though they had been over for four hours. Kat was puzzled by what she had learnt from Harry and Hermione in the last few weeks. The whole year it had felt like something was building in the shadows and now she felt it was all coming to a head, if only she could put the pieces together to see what the picture was. Voldemort wanted the stone, he was in the forest living of unicorn blood. The thought of that was terrifying enough but Snape was possibly with Quirrell's coöperation going after the stone. Whether that was for Voldemort or himself it was still cause to be worried. The stone was being guarded by Fluffy and something Quirrell had done. It stood to reason that there were other defences for the stone. Harry had apparently gone to McGonagall but without proof Snape was after it she wouldn't do anything. If only there was some way to prove that Snape had been trying to get past the defences. Somehow Kat doubted that Quirrell would have the guts to admit it. If only there was someone else Snape needed information from they could ask. She slapped herself which drew some strange looks and woke Harry with a start but ignored them.

"Hermione, Hagrid gave Dumbledore Fluffy." Hermione told her to shush violently waggling her eyebrows in the direction of the twins who were now chatting with Lee. Kat ignored her and continued: "Fluffy is the first line of defence, Snape wouldn't need to know how to get past Quirrell's work unless he already knew how to get past Fluffy!" Harry sat bolt upright a look of alarm dancing across his features.

"You're right. Hermione, Hagrid told me the day I met him that he'd always wanted a dragon, and then he meets someone who just happens to have one. It must have been Snape finding out how to get past it."

"Harry we've been over this you-know-who was afraid of Dumbledore." Hermione grabbed Harry's knee and stared into his eyes trying to convince him. "If he was afraid of the headmaster, you don't think someone like Snape would dare take the stone." The shadows from the fire flickered across her face and Harry felt like he was falling into her large brown eyes, it would be so nice to just relax and accept that it was all fine and that nothing bad was going to happen. The cold voice of reality shattered the warm bubble of security after but a moment and the worries came back.

"But Dumbledore's not here tonight." Kat said grimly. She sensed rather than saw the expressions on Harry's and Hermione's faces. She turned to look at them intensely as if daring them to disagree with them. "You know what we're going to have to do don't you?" Her lip twisted up into a smile which resembled more of a grimace and caused Hermione to get chills down the back of her arms and neck.

"Tail Snape!" Harry said immediately.

"Get a message to Dumbledore!" Hermione said at the same time. They both turned to look at each other with equal looks of incredulity. Kat grinned wickedly showing her teeth menacingly.

"I don't like that look Kat. What are you planning?" Harry asked although he thought he knew what she was going to say.

"Tailing Snape but failing that." She leaned back with a bored expression, twirling her wand like a baton. "We'll just have to steal the stone ourselves."

* * *

Snape had finished his supper ten minutes ago but had sat at the staff table talking to professor Sprout. Kat's legs were cramping from standing still for so long as she stood behind the door to the great hall waiting for the potions master to leave. Her strange behaviour had so far gone unnoticed but that was hardly surprising since she was borrowing Harry's invisibility cloak. She couldn't get over how irresponsible it was to give a boy such a formidable tool for rule breaking. At the moment it was only useful for night-time wandering but in a few years he might be using it for anything and getting away with it. Or at least he might if he wasn't Harry. Her calf muscles were burning from standing on tiptoe behind the door when he finally swept by. Her position had allowed her to stay out of the way of students and staff exiting the great hall as well as providing a handy gap to see Snape's seat. The entrance hall had cleared and she was more worried about keeping up with his long strides than bumping into a student who couldn't see her. She was very surprised when Snape turned right out of the dining hall towards the stairs out into the grounds, and not left towards the dungeons. _Where's he going, another meeting with Quirrell perhaps? I didn't think he would hold out this long unless…he's helping Snape. Damn we should have got Hermione or Ron to keep an eye on him too. _The days were lengthening but by seven o'clock it was almost dark outside and the sun had already dipped below the surface of the lake to the west. Snape was striding across the grass ignoring the gravel path to his left, heading straight towards the dark eaves of the forest. Kat hurried to follow fingering her wand beneath the cloak. _Perhaps if I were to stun him and leave him until Dumbledore gets back the problem would be fixed, but if we're wrong and Snape isn't trying to steal the stone then…oh it's too complicated._ Kat decided to just follow him and save her illicitly learned stunning spells for when she was sure of Snape's guilt. She was careful to avoid twigs and leaf litter as she crossed into the forest after him but it was impossible once under the trees not to make some noise. Snape turned at the sound of a twig snapping three times before he reached his destination. Each time his gaze swept the trees and passed straight through her veiled form. He sniffed the air before sweeping round and continuing deeper into the dark forest. Kat had only been in the forest once before but she was now in complete agreement with the rules that students really shouldn't go here. To put it mildly in the dark with no moon yet risen to filter it's light down through the canopy it was pitch dark but for the soft glow emanating from the tip of Snape's wand. The trees rustled, creaked and groaned seemingly at their passing. Out of the corner of her eye she sensed things moving in the darkness which resolved into branches or undergrowth rustling in the wind when you turned to look. The problem is she thought hurrying closer to Snape is that there was no wind. Cold fear flew through her body and the hand that held her wand was slick with sweat. She found herself caring far less about being discovered and far more about staying near the dark wizard who strode with such confidence through the darkness. The twigs seemed to form claws that gripped and caught on the cloak and she struggled to keep up with Snape who seemed unaffected by the foliage. Eventually they found their way round the trunk of an enormous oak tree at who's base a cave formed beneath two of the giant roots. Snape halted and called out his breath fogging slightly in the light of his wand.

"Come out Quirinus. I know you're here." His voice seemed more fragile in the oppressive air beneath the trees, and strangely it was the lack of echo which caused Kat to shiver. Suddenly she detected movement from the cave's entrance. A deeper darkness seemed to glide forward and fill the void at the base of the tree, before resolving itself into the shadowy be turbaned figure of the DADA professor.

"Ah Severus good of you to join us. Yes this will certainly make things easier, save's me the bother of running to find you." Kat's brow knit in confusion at the voice, it was harder and colder and completely devoid of its habitual hesitant stutter. He seemed to stand taller as he squared up to Snape. "I'll make this simple for you Severus. As I'm sure you've guessed I am working for the dark lord. He will return and now is your chance to prove your much doubted loyalty. Join with me and aid me in recovering that which our master seeks within the school."

Snape took a step back in shock before peering at Quirrell intensely. The pair stared into each other's eye's for a few moments while Kat watched transfixed. Snape took another step back and visibly sagged. "So it is true he is not dead, of course I hoped but I in my arrogance could not believe that even our master could have survived." It was Snape now who's voice quivered and the hand holding his lit wand appeared to tremble.

"You thought that the greatest wizard in the world could not do what a mere infant could?" Quirrell snarled at the potions master. "I should kill you now for your lack of faith, I would if I did not have need of you."

"Alas my lord I cannot help you." Snape fell to his knees on the damp ground. "When we designed its defences we took unbreakable vows not to help others intentionally to the stone." If we made it past the watch dog I would die my lord."

"No matter, I have another task which I doubt will contravene your oath. If you are loyal to me Severus, you shall still find your place among my followers." Quirrell tapped a long pale finger beneath Snape's chin and turned his face towards his own. "When the wards are tripped you will stop the other professor's from interfering. Dumbledore will need too long to return to the castle by which time I will have the stone and can make my escape."

"Yes master." Snape attempted to nod with Quirrell's hand still beneath his chin.

"Go then my servant and make your master proud, this will be the last night before I return. Your long years in the wilderness are almost over Severus. Now is the time to prove your loyalty."

Snape stood and bowed before turning and sweeping away into the clearing. Kat couldn't decide what to do. Did she attempt to stun Quirrell now or should she follow Snape back to the castle and attempt to sabotage his efforts. For some reason she just knew that stunning Quirrell wouldn't work and turned to follow Snape back into the trees. 'SNAP' a twig broke as she turned. She dared not move or breathe. She knew by instinct that Quirrell had turned to look in her direction.

"Custodia Poenia!" She turned in time to see a dark streak hurtling towards her before impacting on her chest. It spread like chains of dark lighting around her body beneath the cloak. It began to constrict tightly biting into her skin and burned painfully. She gasped in pain before and Quirrell followed the sound towards her still hidden form on the ground. He grasped at the fabric near her thigh and pulled the cloak hard, rolling her out of it on the ground.

"It's very bad manners to eavesdrop Miss Edwards isn't it." He chuckled before viciously kicking her in the side. He continued talking while she lay coughing at his feet. "Nice cloak it would be useful but unnecessary. It will serve to stop anything finding you before I return." He squatted down next to her and stared into her faced. Did you know Katherine that the ritual for the elixir of life requires the lifeblood of another? I wonder if Flamel told, his great friend the champion of the light, Albus Dumbledore that the key to immortality is in taking the years that another could have lived for himself. Well Miss Edward's you should be honoured you have been chosen by fate to be here tonight to help the dark lord rise again." He tenderley stroked her cheek and stared into her eyes which were wide with fear. She struggled desperately to get away from his cold hand which sent shivers down her spine. As she shifted the chains burned harshly and seemed to grow tighter around her. "Shhh don't struggle my dear. The more you try to escape the tighter they bind. Oh but you should pray I return for you as well...they grow tighter by themselves anyway." He laughed cruelly and draped the cloak over her bound form before standing up and striding off into the night with nary a glance behind him as he disappeared into the dark.

Kat lay invisible to the world with the burning magic constricting her breathing and growing perceptively tighter. The pain seemed unbearable where they touched her skin but she dared not scream. _At least Quirrell will kill me quickly I hope. Whatever else lives in this wood probably likes to play with their food._ The darkness settled around her and she found herself crying a little. She wanted to stay strong and plan how to escape when Quirrell returned but it was all too easy to give in to the torrent of despair at her predicament. She was going to die, she was never going to see her mother and father again. She was never going to see her friends again. Voldemort would come back and try to kill Harry and it was all her fault she had failed and now she was going to die. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she lay beneath the cloak surrounded by the dark and the eery sounds of the forest. Alone and waiting to die.

* * *

… "Ah! Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them — but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?" The silver mained wizard smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully for a few moments with a slightly puzzled expression. A look of realisation dawned on his wrinkled features, then he choked and said, "Alas! Ear wax!"

Harry couldn't help but giggle from his place in the hospital bed and nodded to Dumbledore as he took his leave. Harry sank back into the plump white pillows and stared at the gothic rib vaults of the hospital wing ceiling. He was thinking about all that Dumbledore had spoken of but it all seemed to strange and hard to grasp, especially the things about his mother's sacrifice and his skin protection. The part he found himself thinking of most was actually the part about how his father had saved Snape's life! Harry chided himself a little for wishing that he hadn't. He chuckled a little to himself at the thought. His small smile broke into a wide grin when he heard a familiar voice pleading with the stern tones of madame Pomfrey. Harry added his own voice pointing out that he was resting. 'Lying down and everything.' A compromise was eventually reached followed by a huff from the nurse who strode into her office. In the five minutes allowed Harry did his best to narrate what had happened after they had been split up. Ron alternated between exclamations of awe and shock during the telling but Hermione seemed distracted although she did remember to seriously setback his recovery with a bone-crushing hug when she arrived.

"What's up Hermione?" Surprisingly Ron had also noticed her reticence. Hermione sat straighter on the edge of Harry's bed and turned away from the window and back to her friends.

"I'm just worried." She looked down into her lap where she was clasping and twisting her hands in agitation. Harry frowned in confusion.

"What about? We beat Voldemort and the stone's been destroyed."

"I know that Harry, but Kat was following Snape before it happened and she never met us to go get the stone. Well no one has seen her since then."

"Wait she's been missing for three days?" Harry exclaimed sitting up sharply and gaping at Hermione. "Well are they looking for her? Have you told Dumbledore what she was doing?"

"Blimey mate, calm down or Pomfrey will kick us out." Ron attempted to push Harry back down onto the pillows but Harry struggled against him and attempted to stand up. Naturally the school nurse chose that moment to check on her patient and his visitors and summarily dismissed them from the hospital wing, outraged at the disregard to her instructions to let him rest.

Harry called out to them and they promised to visit him tomorrow as they were ushered out of the hospital wing and the nurse slammed the door in their faces with a resounding thud.

* * *

"Well Severus are we here?" The old man's voice seemed drained and Snape felt he looked all of his one hundred and nine years. The bags under his eyes were clearly visible and his habitual forcefulness was gone from his movement. Snape remembered the one time he saw Dumbledore in battle and struggled to reconcile the memory with the man next to him in the wood. That Dumbledore had moved with the grace and purpose of a jungle cat. Some duellers dance and move, the headmaster instead appeared to glide languidly through the battle from start to his destination his stride purposeful and unhindered as his wand casually dispatched any obstacle. Gone was the warrior who struck fear even into the frozen heart of the dark lord. In his place was a doddery old man consumed by concern for a child entrusted into his care. Snape first thought how pathetic the once great wizard now seemed then he began to feel apprehension. If this is what Dumbledore has become how can the dark lord be stopped from returning should he learn of the fall of his once great rival?

"Yes Headmaster." He gestured to the clearing with a sweep of his arm. "This is where I met with Quirrell." Dumbledore stepped forward into the clearing and stared hard at the ground frowning and muttering under his breath. His wand slipped from his sleeve into his hand and began twirling and dancing as detection charms flowed out of it in a flood of magic. Snape guessed that the two men stood there for close on twenty minutes before Dumbledore visibly sagged and rested a wizened hand against a nearby elm trunk. He closed his eyes and sighed. Snape knew he had failed to detect a trace of the girl.

"Well Severus," Dumbledore finally spoke his voice was a little rough and his breath came in short gasps interspersed with his words. "Either she did not come all this way with you, or that cloak of Potters, conceals all trace of a person's presence." He pushed himself off the trunk and begun to pace around the clearing still studying the ground although now his wand was still. "I am personally inclined to suspect the cloak as I cannot explain why my instruments have been unable to detect her magical signature or even a trace of it outside the castle. The freshest trace is a week old and leads to the Quidditch pitch and back."

"Headmaster, why do you think she has not returned?" Snape pretended to be inspecting some ivy growing on an ash tree next to him while surreptitiously watching Dumbledore walking towards the cave's entrance.

"Severus what do you know of the philosopher's stone?" Surprised by the question Snape turned to look quizzically at the silver bearded wizard.

"Just that it could produce the elixir of life and turn base metals to lead."

"Ah well it requires something more for the elixir of life. It does in fact require the blood of a living person. The ritual is dark in nature and requires the life of a sacrifice. The blood when drunk will grant the drinker all the years that the sacrifice might have lived. Naturally I was as appalled as you are Severus when I first learned of the ritual; the fact that my friend now uses other means of acquiring the blood does little to reduce my hatred of the practise he engaged in for centuries. To answer your original question Severus, I think that poor miss Edward's is restrained somewhere hidden by the cloak awaiting the dark lord's return for the ritual of the elixir of life. Forced to wait and give her life so the dark lord may live again."

"The dark lord is a spirit once more and therefore incapable of magic, and after what Potter did to him, neither is his host. Would not her restraints have been lifted three days ago? It is possible that enchanted mundane restraints would not have lost their potency I suppose."

"Indeed Snape all we can do is keep searching." Dumbledore cast another long look around the clearing before stopping and looking hard at the base of a tree. "Severus do you know how to use mage sight?" The potion master crouched down next to Dumbledore and studied the base of the small birch tree that Dumbledore was gazing at so intently.

"It is not a skill I have acquired." He bowed his head slightly. "I lack the talent for seeing with it and understanding what I see."

"There are few who can Severus." Dumbledore whispered stroking a hand across four small scratches on the tree trunk. "I think I have discovered where Voldemort left her. There is an absence of magic just here in this spot."

"How do you know that means she was here?"

"I cannot be sure but I have often noticed that where both Harry and his father went beneath the cloak they left a void in the magic behind them. I have not observed this in other invisibility cloaks however Potter's one is much more difficult to detect in other ways…" He trailed off stroking the scratches again. "Severus, I fear that she did not leave this place willingly."

"What does that mean Albus?" the two wizards stood and looked at each other grim faced and serious. As a light rain began to patter down beneath the trees canopy Dumbledore was forced to admit that the trail had gone cold.

"I don't know Severus, I don't know."

**A/N Took a little longer to update this week but don't worry I have no intention of abandoning this story. Please review your comments make it a much nice experience writing.**


	13. Chapter 13 International Rescue

**A/N i don't own anything etc you know how this works. Please review if you are left with any impression whatsoever. I'd love the feedback. **

Chapter 13

It was happening again. Once more Kat was held aloft above a great battle field as the sun rose. She saw that the combatants far below were not arranged neatly into sides like Simon used to arrange his toy soldiers, nor were they in trenches like the soldiers her teacher had taught her about. They swarmed and ran across the plain, caught in little eddies of movement as they engaged each other one on one. Rather than one great struggle it was a stewing pot of a thousand small fights. Flashes of light and swooping figures told her that this was no muggle war but a magical battle. That was if she had not guessed as much from the large figures she assumed were giants.

There was a peal of thunder in the air and once again she fell like a lightning bolt to earth, she cringed and flung her arms out in a futile attempt forestall the fatal judgement of the solid earth. She did not hit the ground this time instead she stopped an inch from the surface and stepped down to earth and looked around. Shadowy figures glanced her way and continued fighting their opponents. She turned to take in the swirling dancing figures in the low light. She heard no sound this time and was relieved as the memory of those screams and cries had haunted her dreams. As she turned she saw a figure that wasn't fighting. Harry stood there looking at her. He was Harry but not Harry, he was taller and older than the Harry she knew and in his eyes burned a fire that chilled her marrow. He roared like a wild animal leapt forward a silver sword appearing in his hand and struck at her. She didn't know how she dodged the blow but she rolled away and came up holding a blade of her own, curved and wickedly sharp it seemed to give off an aura of death. Before she could wonder where it came from she was parrying a thrust from Harry who span and cut down towards her head. She stepped to the side and sliced sideways as she turned. Her blade slipped under his blade and opened a shallow slice in his side. He howled in pain and brought a powerful blow down towards her head, knocking the sword from her grasp and sending her tumbling into the blood soaked soil. He raised his sword to finish her his eyes aflame and completely lacking in mercy or friendship. He looked vindicated like an avenging angel from the fields of punishment. As he raised his sword back to strike Kat's hand closed around something hard and cold and she gripped it and plunged it into his thigh as he stood over her. He fell on top of her screaming in pain at the barb in his leg. He brought his sword round still prostrate on her, his weight pressing her further into the slime. She wrestled with him as he attempted to press the edge into her jugular. A thin trickle of warm liquid flowed down her skin. The hand which held the barb was still trapped beneath his leg. She pulled hard and felt the icy burn of the sword cut deeper as he rocked with her movement. The barb was free and with all her strength she drove it under his arm and into his body with a sickening noise. She rolled him off as he convulsed and knelt beside him unable to look away from the green eyes that stared back at her. Blood trickled from his mouth as he gasped, "Why Katherine? We were friends." And with the word friends a last bubble of blood flowed from his gaping maw and the light left his eyes. The sound of the battlefield had returned with her stabbing her friend, the screams and moans and terrifying clashes overwhelmed her mind and she felt like she was drowning staring still into the dead green eyes.

Kat woke with a start screaming at the memory of the dream. She stopped abruptly when she realised where she was or rather that she did not recognise her surroundings at all. She was on a hard wooden floor made of dusty planks unevenly nailed down. The walls and ceiling were the same she saw looking around the room. It was completely devoid of furniture apart from a small circular window in the wall to her left and the wall behind her was set with iron rings at short intervals. She tried to stand up but couldn't reach the floor with her hands. They were restrained behind her stopping her from standing or moving forward. She turned and twisted until she saw her hands were tied to one of the iron rings by a strip of fabric.

A loud banging came from the wall in front of her like a heavy person or persons stomping down a short flight of stairs. She heard a sharp rap on the wall and the wooden planks shuffled to the side revealing a doorway. Kat shrank backwards at the sight of the figure that stepped into the room. He was a giant of a man, standing easily over six-foot while stooping through the low doorway. He had lank greasy hair falling across his face and an unkempt goatee which did little to hide the four livid scars which ran from eyebrow to chin across the ruin of his face. He had wide flared nostrils and small eyes with gleaming yellow iris'. He stepped towards her unsteadily and she realised the slight motion of the floor was not in her imagination. A leer stretched the scars on his face and showed a set of brown cracked teeth. He stretched out a long nailed finger and stroked her cheek while chuckling as the tiny girl flinched away from his touch as best she could.

"Uh uh uh, Alrick. Remember no touching." A second smaller man walked into the room and stood beside the first. He looked Caribbean with dark skin and dreadlocks. His clothing betrayed him as a wizard. Kat wondered who else would wear a frock coat and dungarees.

"Don't see why not." The big man spoke in a deep gravelly voice, stretching out a hand towards Kat again. "wos I wot found 'er. Why can't I 'ave a bit of fun?"

"Maybe because you aren't going to pay us ten thousand galleons for her."

"Smells so good, just a little taste, I won't leave any marks." The large one Alrick took a strand of her hair and sniffed it.

"Five thousand galleons or one quick taste, which do you want?" The second man crossed his arms and looked at his larger companion. Alrick took another deep sniff before stomping past the other and out of the room.

"Apologies miss, my associate has few manners." Dreadlocks, conjured a stool and perched on it regarding her. His hand slipped into his frock coat and came back with a wand that was instantly familiar to her. He twirled it in his hand and conjured a small violet at the tip which he placed behind her ear. "Matches your eyes." He smiled showing white teeth filed to points. "Nice wand", he said looking back down at it. "The thing is…Veela don't use wands. My canine friend assures me that you are Veela." He began to pace while speaking and twirled her wand through his fingers skilfully. "That uniform looks like an Hogwarts one and Veela don't go to school…" He lapsed into silence as he approached the small circular window or porthole as she was now fairly sure they were on some sort of boat.

"What do you want with me?" Kat finally spoke her voice small and quiet from disuse and her now quite parched throat.

"Well that's the golden question ain't it." He said turning back to look at her with another toothy smile. "You see miss if I could be sure you're a Veela then I don't want anything from you. I just want you to sit here nice and quiet like while we pop over the channel and sell you to a buyer of exotic passtimes." He staggered towards her and couched down in front of her staring into her eyes. "However if you aren't a Veela then we will return you to your parents…for a fee of course for finding their beloved daughter and saving her from whatever nasty creatures would have had her for a meal."

"I don't know what a Veela is." Kat gulped as his hand strayed towards her throat.

"Funny that. That's what the last one said, but she was prettier than you." He suddenly reached forward and grabbed the collar of her school shirt, her mum had stitched name tags into everything she took to Hogwarts. "Katherine Edwards" He read the curly script and released her collar. "Doesn't sound very Veelaish." He patted her cheek and his grin widened. "Don't worry your pretty little head I know a guy who can sort this all out for us. Now get some sleep we'll be there soon." He stood up and put her wand back inside his frock coat before giving her a jaunty bow and staggering across the roiling floorboards to the door. "Bubbye." He called as the planks reshuffled to form unbroken wall behind him.

* * *

"Well Albus? What did they say?"

Dumbledore looked up at his deputy headmistress who stood silhouetted in the front gate by the castle's golden glow. She looked grim and a little tired standing there waiting for his return from the forest.

"The centaurs gave me a lead which may prove useful but may come to nothing." He climbed the steps and headed towards his offices, McGonagall trailing in his wake. They passed a couple of prefects he recognised as one of the Weasley's and miss Clearwater a promising charms student according to her head of house. They both nodded to the two teachers and continued on their rounds. McGonagall exchanged words with them but Dumbledore continued walking. Upon arriving in his office he immediately took one of the two armchairs by the fire and stroked Fawkes who had alighted on the arm.

"Well Minerva our plans are in ruins." Dumbledore continued to gaze into the fire as his deputy took the chair across from him.

"Your plans Albus, do not forget I opposed you using the stone as bait for the dark lord. Now look where it has left us, poor Quirrell dead in a most horrid fashion and miss Edward's taken." She spoke reasonably quietly but the barely noticeable tremor in her voice gave her away.

"We'll find her Minerva."

"I hope you're right, I don't think I could face Jack and Audrey if we don't before the train arrives at Kings Cross in three days. What did the Centaurs say?"

"Apparently a pack of were-wolves were passing through that night, they may have found her. I've already sent Severus and Flitwick to talk to my contacts among the packs I suspect we'll know more by tomorr –"

Dumbledore was interrupted by a little silver bell on one of the instruments on his shelves.

"Excuse me Minerva it appears a student desperately wishes to speak to me."

A wave of his hand revealed a startled Hermione Granger, her left hand raised to knock the opened door and her right hand supporting a tawny owl with a somewhat bemused set to its beak and eyes.

"Professor Dumbledore I'm sorry to barge in like this but I've worked out how we can find Kat!" Hermione recovered her composure quickly and rushed into the office. So focused was she on her idea she completely failed to notice her head of house sitting in the other chair.

"Miss Granger slow down and explain yourself." McGonagall had an inkling of what she was about to say.

"I thought that you could put a tracking charm on her owl and send it to her." Hermione looked down at her feet peeking out from under her robes a little embarrassed at having barged into the headmaster's office and clearly interrupting a meeting between himself and the deputy head. She had rushed straight from the common room to the owlery upon thinking of the idea and now chided herself that she could think of something the great Dumbledore did not and then barging into his office with her silly notions. Cheeks glowing pink she glanced up through her fringe at the headmaster who was leaning forward out of his armchair and staring intensely at her. His sparkling blue eyes met her brown and he seemed to be reaching into her thoughts with the intensity of his stare.

"That is brilliant miss Granger, is that miss Edwards's owl?" He stood and held out his arm as she nodded. She passed him Rodney and he stroked its feathers softly murmuring to it. His wand appeared as if by magic in his hand and he waved it over the Owl three times. "Go, fly on swift wings and find your mistress." Rodney hooted and flew out of an open window and into the darkening sky.

"Well miss Granger I suggest you go get some sleep I promise to alert you and mister Potter if we have any more information." McGonagall stood and motioned Hermione towards the door. She knew that Hermione and Kat had gotten closer this past term and she correctly guessed Hermione wanted to stay up and find out if Rodney found her.

"Yes miss Granger get some rest we'll know more soon."

* * *

Bang!

"Good mornin' girly. Did ye sleep well?"

Kat's eyes shot open and found herself face to face or rather face to boot with the larger of her captives. The one called Alrick who she was beginning to suspect was a were-wolf.

"No, well that's a right shame." He reached down and grabbed her by the collar in his enormous hands and hoisted her up to eye level. She gasped in pain as her already sore shoulders were wrenched by the chain attached to her wrists. "You've got a visitor coming so you need a wash and to look er presentable." He grinned at her and she had to look away in disgust from his teeth and his breath which smelled metallic like raw meat.

He dropped her laughing and stomped across the room to the open doorway and up the stairs. He walked much more steadily but she could still detect a gentle rocking so she guessed the weather was calmer outside. She steeled herself and yanked on the chain a little causing daggers of pain to lance in her wrists and shoulders. The ring was budging a little after nearly a hundred attempts but she doubted she would get free before they reached their destination.

She had to put off any further thought of escape when dreadlocks returned with another man she hadn't seen before. Dreadlocks had accessorized his dungarees with a lime green frock coat today and was once more twirling her wand between thumb and forefinger. The other man was dressed much more normally for a wizard in a three piece suit and a pinstripe cloak and bowler hat. He had a thin black moustache and goatee with high cheek bones and dark eyes. He was had an ageless appearance with few lines on his face but a quality that suggested he was quite old. Kat guessed he could be anywhere from early thirties to late fifties. He raised a black eyebrow after stepping into the cabin and looking at her. He had a wooden cane with a silver dog head for a handle which he prodded her in the neck with and tilted her head up to look at him. He pursed his lips and turned his head to the side before turning to dreadlocks.

"Well she isn't a Veela-"

"Yes she is!"

"- she's half tops," he continued in a high cold voice with a distinct French accent but perfect English pronunciation. "Although she hasn't undergone her change yet so it's impossible to know how much of the Veela has bled down." He looked at her contemplatively before stooping down and staring at her chest.

"So half-veela that's five g's right?" Dreadlocks asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably. This brought a bark of laughter from the man who had just brushed her blonde hair off the Gryffindor badge on her school jumper.

"Five G? You effing moron! You think I'd pay you five G for this half veela brat?" He snarled at dreadlocks and stood up his face right in the other man. "I'd be doing you an effing favour taking her off your hands."

"Why's that?" Alrick growled from the doorway, he had come down the stairs very quietly considering he normally stomped around like a cave troll. Their guest straightened up taking in the imposing size of the new arrival.

"Why? That's why!" He turned and pointed at her uniform with his cane. "You moron's snatched her from Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore the greatest wizard in the world is going to be looking for her. If you two don't lose her soon you're going to get nice long stays in Azkaban. You think that I want let alone will pay to have that kind of heat? You two are dummer than you look. And that's saying something." Alrick growled and placed a hand on the large bowie knife thrust in his belt but dreadlocks placed a restraining hand on Alrick's shoulder and turned to look at the buyer.

"Alright, let it never be said that Epimetheus Maxwell couldn't compromise." Dreadlocks grinned and spread his arms. "I understand," He said bowing his head and attempting to look magnanimous rather than arrogant, "that there is perhaps a larger than usual amount of inconvenience attached to this particular merchandise but I still think we can do a deal. Chrysus how about three thousand? I'll even throw in transportation to your pens."

"One thousand five hundred. Don't be stupid and try to haggle you won't last long enough to find another buyer and I'm not going to raise my offer. If that's all you gentleman want to waste my time on I'll take my leave."

"Hold up there we'll agree to your deal but you have to take her now." Chrysus turned and looked at Maxwell sceptically. Then he took the offered hand and shook. "It's a deal." He grinned like a shark all teeth and no smile before pulling out a pocket book and conjuring a quill with his wand. Both Maxwell and Chrysus signed it before slapping each other on the back.

Suddenly a ball of red and brown feathers came hurtling through the door way and stopped before Kat.

"Rodney?" She said in disbelief at the owl which had alighted on her knee and looked at her expectantly for a treat.

"What the eff is this." Maxwell exclaimed. All three men stiffened when they heard a large crack from above.

* * *

McGonagall skimmed the Daily Prophet's sport section's coverage of the rumour the Ireland chaser Paddy Mullet was on his way to her team the Montrose Magpies with a sceptical eye when she heard Dumbledore gasp beside her at the breakfast table. The glazed expression on his face did not last long and he sprung into action immediately.

"Minerva floo the French ambassador immediately! Severus, Filius with me." He stepped back from the table and conjured a piece of rope with his wand before waving his wand and making it glow briefly blue. "Now if you please Minerva I would rather not start a war."

McGonagall ran to the closest fire place in the great hall and promptly stuck her head up it. "French embassy in London, Edouard Delacour." She looked out and saw a pair of black and white spats by a large mahogany desk. "Edouard, I'm sorry to disturb you but there's no time to explain I need permission for an international portkey to France, it's for Albus to rescue a kidnapped student.

The shocked man with a small goatee and pronounced laughter lines leapt to his feet and crouched down by the fire, recognizing the face of his mother's old friend. "Of course Minerve." He said in his heavily accented English. "Tell Dumbleedore. That I will authorise it, but Minerve, I expect you to call me back and tell me why I am doing dis for you."

McGonagall pulled her head out of the fire-place and nodded to Dumbledore who counted down 'three-two-one' and with a bang he and Snape and Flitwick disappeared. Pomona Sprout hurried over to McGonagall to ask if Dumbledore had located Kat, but McGonagall had already stuck her head back into the still open connection.

As soon as Rodney's arrival was followed by the large noise from outside Chrysus disapparated leaving Alrick and Maxwell staring at each other in shock.

"Bugger" Alrick managed before two cracks produced Snape and Flitwick. Snape had his wand to the throat of Alrick while Flitwick was smirking while pointing his wand at Maxwell's crotch. Dumbledore swept into the room and went straight to Kat.

"Are you alright Miss Edward's? Did they hurt you." Cat managed to sob out a negative as all the tears she'd felt like crying in the past few days came pouring out in relief that she had been saved. Dumbledore flicked his wand releasing her from the chains and helped her stand up. He reached over and took the light grey wand from Maxwell's jacket and handed to Katherine who held it tightly to her chest as if afraid someone would take it away again and leave her defenceless once more.

"Severus, Filius I will escort Katherine back to Hogwarts, I suggest you wait for the Gendarmes to arrive, they shouldn't be long. He steered Katherine through the door and out onto the deck of what turned out to be a small yacht with dirty white deck and a tatty blue sail. Before Dumbledore could stop her she suddenly broke free of his arm and ran towards a pile of rubbish including food tins and old newspapers at the side of the deck. Before Dumbledore could question her she had bent down and picked up a very familiar shimmering cloak. "Ah, right then Katherine hold on to that, while Mr Potter will I;m sure be more happy to see you again it would be a shame if he was not reunited with his father's cloak. Now hold onto this length of rope and don't let go of your owl, we're going back via portkey. You know what a portkey is?"

"Yes sir." She gulped and took hold of the rope. "Don't let go Rodney." She whispered to her owl just as they were whisked away. Barely had they left than four wizards in dark blue robes with silver fleur de lis on their breasts apparated onto the boat. They wouldn't receive very satisfactory responses from the two Hogwarts professors however Maxwell and Alrick had multiple crimes to answer for in France alone and they were glad enough to take the wanted men without asking too many questions of what had happened.

"A student was kidnapped and we have recovered her, these are the kidnappers thankyou for your assistance." Flitwick said before disappearing. Snape sneered before he two disapparated with a soft crack. The gendarmes looked at each other before turning their wands on the two convicts.

"You know Alrick." Maxwell muttered out of the side of his mouth. "If we get out of this remind me to get an honest job."

**A/N review please, hope you're all having a pleasant week.**


	14. Chapter 14 Tie 'er off

**A/N I suppose apologies for the long wait are in order it has been somewhat of a hectic couple of weeks but it is no more and here it is my final offering for the events of Philosopher/Sorcerer's stone. Hope you guys are still enjoying the story please review and let me know. I have been made aware that i have been skipping between spelling Kat with a K and a C. I did intend it to be spelt with a K so i promise to do my utmost to be consistent in spelling it with a K. Good spot their reyafa umbla. Oh and as per usual i still don't own Harry Potter or any associated trademarks and copyrights on with the show.**

Chapter 14

The thunk of something heavy echoed through the halls as a hunched figure came striding jerkily across the polish marble of the ministry atrium. The duty officer at the security desk didn't even glance at the man making his way into the heart of government in the dead of night. It wasn't worth his job to question a man with no business being there. Alastor Moody may have had no business being there after hours but the security guard decided he had even less business asking him. The grizzled ex-auror scowled as his electric blue eye zipped back to the front after examining the lazy nincompoop Amelia called guards these days. Back in his day if a non ministry-employee barged in via the visitors entrance at three in the morning there would be caterwauling charms, anti travel wards and automatic detection jinxes tripped. But now fudge was in charge and the ministry was a "smooth, efficient and cost effective machine of governance." Paranoid auror captains who run up expensive curse breaker and warder bills on behalf of the ministry were most definitely persona non grata in Fudge's peacetime ministry.

"Peace. My scarred right buttock." He muttered as he stomped his wooden legged gait into the fancy new elevators with their fancy grills and buttons. "All too lazy to use stairs now obviously." He dipped a hand into the pocket of his dragon hide coat and grasped his hip flask to take a quick gulp and shivered, his magical eye whizzing in its socket before focusing on the stern manacled face of his protégé.

"Surely Alastor you find it easier to use a lift than the stairs? Especially after Lestrange blew up your magic leg." Amelia Bones looked much older than last he saw her nearly ten years previously. Her dark red hair which had been streaked with grey was gone replaced with silver severely tied back her old penchant for muggle military costume gone with her promotion to department head no doubt.

Moody's ruined face split into a lopsided grin and he stepped forward and hugged his old friend. "It's good to see ya to be sure Bonesy." He stepped back and made a show of looking at her even though his magical eye had already taken in everything there was to see. "You look like shit. Hah." He cackle as he released her and stomped past her towards his old office. His magical eye caught the twitch of a half smile from his former colleague. "Come on then. I'm sure old Albus Droopydraws can't be getting any younger waiting for mad eye to come and save the day." He stepped into the DMLE's department head office and looked to the two men standing by the fireplace that they'd probably just come out of.

"Really Mad-Eye I fail to see the need for us to come here when we could have visited you at home." "Aye Severus, however I in my ignorance, thought it'd be harder for death eaters to make a trap for me in the department head of the DMLE's office." He growled, his magical eye span taking in Amelia who had locked the door magically and non-magically. "So Professor's what can I do for you that was so important it had to interrupt my holiday?"

"Alastor I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I need your help identifying someone." Albus stepped forward and pulled a pensieve from thin air and held it out towards the grizzled old auror. Moody stepped forward unsteadily and prodded the silvery surface with his wand until a face swum into focus amongst the silvery swirls.

"Chrysus Green." He breathed reaching out and stroking the surface. "That's a face I didn't think I'd ever see again." He looked up at Dumbledore sharply. "Where'd you get this memory."

"One of my students was kidnapped and was going to be trafficked by him for some, no doubt nefarious purpose." Dumbledore moved to one of the armchairs by Amelia's desk and sat down heavily with a sigh. "The pair who kidnapped her have been detained by French law enforcement but this man escaped. I thought perhaps-"

"Old Mad-Eye might know his ugly moustachioed mug?" Alastor stomped round to stare at the old man, "I'm surprised your pet death eater over there couldn't identify him." Moody made a noise halfway between a chuckle and a cough before sitting down and rubbing his leg above the wood. "Chrysus used to work for old Voldy like your greasy potions master. He wasn't a frontline death eater though, no more of a facilitator the kind of man who could get hold of a ward keystone for someone else's house or kidnap someone's children to get them to agree to the dark lord's demands." He leaned forward and stared into Albus' eyes letting his occlumency shields drop and purposefully reviewed his memories. "Not a very nice man." He sat back and regarded the three other occupants of Amelia Bones's office. "Before you ask no I've got no idea where to find him, no leads on who might be able to get a message to him. I'm not in the game anymore you should ask Mundungus or those two the Frenchies have got." Amelia shut her mouth with an audible click as he answered her question before she asked it. He smirked as his magical eye watched Snape and Amelia both sag a little in obvious disappointment.

"Well then thank you Alastor if you remember anything helpful please don't hesitate to contact either myself or Ms Bones. Albus stood up and began to walk towards the fire place.

"Hey hold up before you go, first gonna tell me whether you caught anything in the trap you set to catch the guy who broke into Flamel's vault at Gringott's?" Moody raised his remaining eyebrow smirking at Dumbledore who seemed to grow even wearier as he turned while reaching for the pot of floo powder on the carved marble mantle.

"Voldemort amongst other things." With that and a swirl of lilac robes and silver hair he was gone in a flash of green.

"What other things Severus." Moody growled and made to block the fireplace before he could follow Dumbledore through it. "Snape tell me goddamnit."

"Do not trouble yourself Mad-eye. The dark lord was thwarted by a bunch of meddlesome school children." Snape sneered and attempted to step round the broader man.

"School children?" Amelia asked with a audible quiver in her voice. Snape turned to regard her.

"Harry Potter and his friends have unfortunately inherited his father's love of going places he shouldn't."

"Potter's a first year if my maths is right…You're trying to tell me that a first year made it past those phony obstacles you set up to make it look like you were actually guarding it?" Moody's voice rose in pitch as he stared wide eyed at Snape before bursting out laughing.

"Ha well James was one of the best and Lily was twice as smart. Stands to reason li'l Harry would be good. Trolls, Cerberus's, curse fire and murderous chess sets. Good work Potter, perhaps you should try and recruit him Bonesy." Moody continued to chuckle while Amelia's lips thinned and Snape snorted with derision. Snape bowed to Amelia before exiting via the floo while Moody continued to chuckle.

"You going to tell me where exactly you've been on your 'holiday'?" Amelia sat down behind her desk once more.

"Romania mostly. Although I did stop off in Germany and China. I'm off to Russia and the Ukraine tomorrow."

"Sounds relaxing." She said sceptically. Moody ignored her sarcasm and replied bluntly.

"You think hunting dark wizards and their undead minions is relaxing? Amelia you need a holiday more than me! Ha!"

"Oh I'm sorry professor."

"For goodness sake girl, I'd take points off you for running in the halls but that'll make little difference now." McGonagall straightened her hat while retrieving the book she had dropped with her wand. Hermione looked mortified at having run into her stern head of house yet was visibly bouncing on her feet. McGonagall was interrupted from continuing her reprimand when a pair of ginger streaks came barreling past nearly knocking over the little first year.

"Sorry Granger didn't see you there. You off to the hospital wing too? Hi there Minnie." Before anyone could say anything back the twins took off again at top speed scattering students as they ran. McGonagall stared in disbelief after their retreating figures and Hermione seized her chance.

"I'm really sorry professor but I have to go." She quickly took off after their retreating figures and missed the slight quirk of a smile that momentarily crossed the older woman's' habitually stern features.

Hermione reached the hospital wing to find four people arguing hotly , one person sitting quietly and the prone figure of another asleep. Three weasley's and Oliver Wood were demanding permission to stay from an irate Madame Pomfrey, while Harry was sitting up in bed hands folded in his lap and alternating watching the twins, Ron and Oliver and glancing over at the figure in the bed to his left. His head turned so often he actually resembled someone watching the ball in play in a game of tennis. Hermione mentally reminded herself to comment on this at a later point when she wasn't trying to sneak past the rooms other occupants to get to Kat's bed. She nearly shrieked when a hand rested lightly on her shoulder and she turned to be taken in by the twinkling blue eyes of the headmaster who was smiling down at her.

"Madame Pomfrey, I think perhaps it would be best if miss Edwards were to receive her visitors now especially as she is making a rather poor attempt at pretending to be asleep." Dumbledore bowed slightly to the matron and stepped towards her bed when he was surprised by her reply.

"But professor the rules of my hospital wing state that there can be no more than three visitors per patient." Poppy crossed her arms across her chest and made a very real attempt to maintain eye contact with the headmaster.

"Ah but Poppy by my count there are only three visitors per patient, I am sure Mr Wood and at least some of the Weasley's are here to see Mr Potter. Weren't you boys?" He gave a slight wink to a puzzled looking Wood while the twins immediately ran to Harry's bed side and made a great show of plumping his pillows and generally fussing over him. Madame Pomfrey huffed before striding over to her office and closing the door with an audible slam.

"Oh dear, I fear I have got myself in no end of hot water. Have a care for the future never upset a woman with access to anti jinx remedies. I'm sure I don't have to tell you the danger of a hair removal tonic if taken by accident with your morning pumpkin juice." He twinkled at them before moving to Katherine who now had her eyes open but looked grim. "We shall need to have a chat I think. But now is not the time." He smiled warmly at her and she looked somewhat relieved. "I shall keep you from your friends no longer and hope you and Mr Potter will be able to join us for the end of year feast tomorrow." With that he swept from the room, all magenta and silver robes shimmering and long silver hair flowing.

"He's got dramatic-"

"Entrances and exits down to a tee." The twins laughed before turning to Oliver Wood.

"Alright now Wood let's just try to-"

"Stay calm ok no one needs to blow things-"

"Out of proportion eh? There's always-"

"Next year." They smiled at him cheekily while everyone else including Wood frowned at them in confusion. Comprehension slowly dawned on the teenage boys face followed by a crimson blush as he understood.

"Harry…Kat. I'm glad you're both alright." The Quidditch captain choked out hesitantly before nodding to them both and heading for the door. Once he'd gone Harry finally spoke up to voice the collective bemusement of the entire room.

"Um what was that guys?" The twins jumped up onto the bed sandwiching the small boy between their larger beaters frames. Placing an arm around his shoulders the two in unison explained in a very disconcerting way exactly what was wrong with the Gryffindor keeper.

"Harry, Kat what you have to understand is that for our esteemed leader/captain, there is nothing so important as winning at Quidditch except perhaps winning at Quidditch against the Slytherins." They both said in unnervingly perfect synchronicity. "You may scoff Miss Granger but when you think about it Wood wants Quidditch to be his entire future so he treats it with the same seriousness that you would studying and we would pranking. That is why he is torn between relief that his seeker and his mascot/benchwarmer are both ok and the fact that we got our asses handed to us by the Ravenclaw's and suffered the largest defeat in I think it's entire history." Both Harry and Kat groaned and lay back into their pillows as despite all they had been through over the past few days they were both overcome by the guilt of having let the team down.

"Will it stop him going professional?" Harry timidly asked glancing left and right at the smirking faces either side of him.

"Doubt it, as my esteemed brother and I said there's-"

"Always next year. Don't worry about it young Potter wee lad. Ok sure-"

"he'll hate you for most of the next year but as long as we win next year he-"

"probably will overcome the desire to murder you both and hang your corpses-"

"in the Gryffindor common room as a warning to the rest of us not to be late for practise." The twins burst out laughing at the horrified expressions on the first years faces before each grabbing a chocolate frog from the pile in front of Harry's bed on their way to the door. "Seriously though, we're glad you guys are ok." They both said in their uniquely creepy way before waving jauntily and leaving the hospital wing leaving the quartet of intrepid first years behind.

Hermione had made her way over to Kat's bed and was looking at her intently while Harry was looking after the twins departure. Ron was at the foot of Harry's bed sucking a drooble with a thoughtful expression which made him look in Harry's opinion slightly constipated. His head whipped round at the sound of a sob from the direction of the two girls. He saw Hermione had her arms around Kat and was stroking her back tenderly while the blonde girl shook.

"I didn't think I'd…ever see you guys again." She whispered into Hermione's shoulder as the twelve year old comforted the eleven year old. Her words were just audible and Harry pulled back the duvet determined to go help comfort her when, in a somewhat surprising show of sensitivity Ron walked round and patted her on the shoulder.

"Come on now Kat, don't be silly no one could stop Dumbledore finding you and you're safe now and it's not gonna happen again is it." He mumbled out before adding somewhat awkwardly, "there, there don't cry." _Maybe there is hope for him. _The surprises kept rolling in when Kat turned and gave Ron a quick one armed hug.

"I'm sorry for crying, it's silly it's just I was scared and now I'm back."

"Well you're safe now and in two days you'll get to see your parents again." Hermione gasped as she remembered and dove into her school bag searching frantically. "I almost forgot, Rodney came with this yesterday." Her hands resurfaced clutching a manila envelope and handed it to Kat who recognized her Dad's scratchy hand.

"Oh no I didn't write to them this week. They'll think something awful has happened." Kat gasped grabbing the letter and attempted to tear it open as quickly as possible as if by reading and writing a reply immediately it would somehow arrive two days ago. Her exclamation brought a small chuckle to Harry which set Ron off before finally Hermione and even Kat were giggling slightly.

"Alright I guess you guys know what happened to me. So how come Harry's my roommate?"

Kat and Harry made their way down to the great hall in silence each acutely aware of the murmurings of the paintings, the clock tower bells tolling six and the slap of their shoes on the stone flags. Harry was pensive after his visit to Hagrid and Kat guessed his mind was probably up in his dormitory with the photo album Hagrid had made for him. Walking next to him Kat was nagging at an itch at the bag of her mind. There was something off about the story Harry had told her. He thought that Dumbledore had known and let him go after the stone, even going so far as to teach him how the mirror worked. She couldn't see any other explanation other than that Dumbledore had known and determined that Harry would face Voldemort which was insane. Why would Dumbledore want Harry anywhere near the powerful dark lord who murdered his parents. Either Dumbledore wanted Harry to die by his hand or he thought Harry would be able to defeat him. Come to think of it Kat couldn't work out how Dumbledore could have allowed Voldemort into the castle other than for the purpose of facing Harry. She had read Hogwarts a History and remembered that the wards stopped those with ill-intent. If that wasn't true then what was the point of them at all. Her first year at Hogwarts was almost over as the pair stepped as if in a dream into the great hall. It was quite easy to ignore the stairs and sound of their names echoed around the hall from one person to another at their late entrance. After finding their seats next to Ron and Hermione they turned to look to the staff table where Dumbledore had risen. He gave the foursome a clear look which had many heads turned to look at them and Ron's ears burning from the attention. Dumbledore clapped his hands together and silence descended in a wave leaving behind the driftwood of the Weasley twins continued conversation.

"I'm just saying Forge a Heffalump would mostly definitely win in a fight with a…" Their voices finally petered out as they realised that the entire Hogwarts population was looking at them. Dumbledore cleared his throat before starting his speech while McGonagall fixed the twins with a steely gaze which for once seemed devoid of the normal humour hidden at the corner of her mouth.

"_Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were… you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts… Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."_

A cacophony of cheering rent the air as the members of the green table stamped their feet and banged their forks in celebration. Draco Malfoy pompously stood and raised a glass to Professor Snape who nodded. The entire Gryffindor table turned in disgust to look elsewhere, anywhere else but at their victors.

_"Yes, Yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."_

_"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes… First — to Mr. Ronald Weasley…" Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn. "…for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." _There was a smattering of polite applause from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables while most of the Gryffindors continued to balefully stare at their hands or plates anywhere in fact other than the Slytherins or their greasy bat king potions professor. Percy Weasley could be heard to say to another prefect "my brother you know." Ron's pink ears burned scarlet but he looked proud and sat a little straighter on the bench. Dumbledore raised a hand and once more silence reigned.

_"Second — to Miss Hermione Granger… for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points." _There were fewer cheers from the other houses but the Gryffindors cheered louder than the Slytherins had at winning the house cup. They were a hundred points up and they could feel the tide turning it wasn't over yet. Hermione buried her face in her hands and at first look you might mistake her for crying but Kat suspected she was just embarrassed as her entire house yelled congratulations at her for something she was legitimately proud of accomplishing.

_"Third — to Mr. Harry Potter…" said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "… for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points." _Kat and Hermione both looked at each other both having done the calculation simultaneously.

"He wouldn't! Would he?" Kat whispered.

"What?" Ron asked as everyone on three of the tables yelled at Harry and clapped and stamped and banged cutlery on the trestles.

"We're tied with Slytherin." Hermione answered with glee. If only he'd given Harry one more point Kat thought ruefully, still an honourable draw was better than losing again right?

"_"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom. Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."_

The explosion of noise that erupted in the great hall sounded like a riot had broken out as Neville who had never won a point for Gryffindor handed them the house cup and stole it from Slytherin who had won it for seven years straight. Neville disappeared under a pile of Gryffindors attempting to hug him and shake his hand, which was probably just as well as he didn't see the death glares coming from the green and silver table directed his way. It took nearly ten minutes to get the hall back under control and the Weasley twins to stop their Irish riverdance on the table top.

Kat beamed at everyone at the table and everyone returned it as the champions tucked into their splendid feast and forgot all about exams and points and dark lords and focused on the glory of being part of their houses victory. It was the best evening of Harry's life. Maybe not as good as the afternoon when he caught the snitch against Slytherin but certainly the best evening.

"It really is unfair that we aren't allowed to use Magic during the holidays." Kat scowled at the piece of parchment in her hand signed my McGonagall and identically scowled at by all the other first years.

"But Katherine you know that it's essential to the international statute of secrecy that muggles do not realise magic exists, and young students who aren't very good at it yet are an exposure risk." Hermione replied haughtily as they deposited their trunks on the pile by the station. Her attitude caused Kat to chuckle to herself, she was still surprised that Hermione had somehow managed to retain the little character quirks of bossiness and superiority after everything they'd been through this year. Still better bossy Hermione than Captains Sarcastinc Ronald. Kat smiled to herself determined to call him that sometime but then she wondered whether he'd take it as a compliment. Maybe she could get Hermione to say something intelligent like how sarcasm is the lowest form of wit at the same time to double team him.

"Yeah Hermione but I heard Malfoy saying that the ministry can't tell who casts a spell in a household of wizards so it's only us muggleborns who are going to get criminally charged for doing magic. Everyone else is just going to get a ticking off from their parents if that."

"Oh my god that's so unjust, that's blatant favouritism for purebloods which will negatively impact our education to their advantage. We should do something."

"Like what?" Kat asked intrigued by Hermione's righteous indignation which was making her vibrate slightly on close inspection it was quite comical actually how angry she was getting over this perceived injustice.

"I don't know something. Maybe we should make a petition to allow pupils to practise spells which teachers set them to work on over the holidays?"

"I have a dream that one day we will live in a nation judged not by their parents but by the quality of their owl's!-

I have a dream that in England with its pureblood bigots and nincompoop ministers one day right there in England little purebloods will be able to join hands with little muggleborns and play gobstones together" Hermione and Kat turned and stared at the ginger apparitions leaning on the lamppost next to them. The twins high fived each other and continued in a Southern American imitation:

"We have a dream." Hermione stood with hands on hips and glared at the two.

"How do you even know that, and you shouldn't make fun of it."

"Don't worry Granger we're just messing if you want to go get votes for muggleborns we support you every step of the way." Hermione paled and took a step back wide eyed and physically trembling.

"We don't… We don't…"

Fred, or possibly George took pity on her and laid his left hand on her shoulder his right still holding a trick buzzer. "Don't worry Hermione no one has a vote, Magical Britain isn't a democracy and our dad leaves muggle newspapers around and we sometimes get bored. And now we've blown your mind don't you think you should be getting on the train before it starts to leak out through your ears?" He grinned and pushed her gently towards Kat who guided her into the train as Hermione seemed to get even more worked up. _Great now Hermione will try and start a civil rights movement and she'll want me to help. Still she wouldn't be Hermione if she didn't want to change the world. Gotta love her._ Kat sighed as she found the compartment Ron and Harry had taken.

"Whatever you do, do not ask Hermione what's up." she whispered to Harry and Ron while Hermione struggled with her trunk. Harry smirked while Ron looked perplexed but chose not to say anything and instead all four turned to take a last look at the castle as the scarlet steam engine began to pull out of the station and leave the castle behind. _One year gone four more to go. It was better than I thought it was going to be and sure magic is cool, but I'm so glad I'm going to see my parents again tonight. _Kat couldn't help but grin at the thought and then felt immediately guilty as she watched Harry stare sadly at the retreating silhouette of the only place he'd ever known family or home. She reached across seat and patted his hand causing him to turn and look into her eyes. "You'll be home soon Harry a few weeks and we'll all be together again just you wait."

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